Technology News
Latest technology news and updates
Total: 510
China’s Robotics Race Turns Inward: Zhiyuan Spins Off Dexterous‑Hand Unit as Component Competition Intensifies
Zhiyuan Robotics has spun off its dexterous‑hand division into a new, majority‑owned company led by an industry veteran, reflecting a sectorwide pivot from whole‑machine integration to component specialisation. The move, alongside regulatory changes for surgical robots and advances across clean energy and machine tools, signals China’s industrial strategy shifting toward manufacturable, high‑performance subsystems that underpin next‑generation robotics and automation.
Suzhou Targets Semiconductors, Embodied AI Robots and Low‑Altitude Economy in New Five‑Year Blueprint
Suzhou’s recommendations for its 15th Five‑Year Plan mobilise the city to cultivate semiconductors, embodied intelligence robots, advanced machine tools and a low‑altitude economy, aiming to upgrade existing industrial clusters and create new growth poles. The move reflects a local strategy to deepen technological capabilities, scale new industries through demonstrations and integrate more closely with the Yangtze River Delta’s aerospace ambitions.
Suzhou Bets on 'AI+': From Chip to One‑Person Startups, a City Repositions to Lead Industrial AI
Suzhou’s latest five‑year planning proposal makes artificial intelligence a central pillar for industrial upgrading, data infrastructure and entrepreneurship. The city aims to build a full‑stack AI ecosystem—from chips and datasets to platforms and applications—while branding itself as China’s go‑to city for single‑person startups and promoting AI exports and standards participation.
Chinese Startup Says It Trained Robots by 'Dreaming' — and Grew to Hundreds of Millions in Revenue
KuaWei Intelligence open-sourced EmbodiChain, a generative simulation pipeline that it says can train robot models entirely on synthetic data and achieve zero-shot transfer to the real world. The company reported annual revenue in the hundreds of millions of yuan for 2025 and expects three- to fourfold growth in 2026, pitching its approach as a scalable, ROI-focused alternative to costly real-world data collection.
Apple Services Disrupted: App Store, Apple TV and iTunes Hit by Ongoing Outage
Apple reported an ongoing outage affecting the App Store, Apple TV and iTunes, with knock-on problems for Photos, iMessage and iCloud iWork. The disruption highlights operational and reputational risks for Apple and immediate economic consequences for developers and content providers.
Beijing Doubles Down on 6G, Quantum and Heavy Industry to Rewire China’s Tech Future
China’s MIIT announced accelerated progress across 6G, quantum, AI and heavy manufacturing, reporting substantial gains in chip‑related output, robots and new energy vehicles. Officials emphasised China’s strong position in 5G patents and early 6G trials, and outlined policy measures to fast‑track commercialization and create future‑industry hubs.
Hongqi Unveils First Car with All‑Solid‑State Battery After Sulfide Electrolyte Breakthrough
FAW’s Hongqi has produced a sample car featuring a 66Ah all‑solid‑state battery that passed a 200°C thermal abuse test, with a sulfide electrolyte reaching ionic conductivity above 10 mS/cm. The milestone narrows the technical gap between solid and liquid electrolytes but industrial scaling, cost and long‑term stability remain major obstacles before mass commercialization.
China Moves 6G From Lab to Field: Second‑Phase Trials Mark a New Stage in the Race for Next‑Gen Networks
China has begun second‑phase 6G trials, moving from foundational research to system‑level testing and field validation. The shift enhances Beijing’s ability to influence standards, bolster domestic supply chains, and shape the commercial and strategic trajectory of next‑generation wireless networks.
Global 8‑inch Wafer Market Tightens as Chip Giants Cut Capacity — China Fabs Cash In with Price Hikes
A supply squeeze in 8‑inch wafer manufacturing, driven by capacity cuts at TSMC and Samsung and growing AI‑era demand for power and analog chips, has pushed prices up by roughly 5–20%. Chinese mainland foundries including SMIC and Hua Hong are filling the gap, raising prices and running near full capacity, but the longer‑term migration to 12‑inch production continues to shape the market.
Zhipu Limits Sales of GLM Coding Plan to Protect Long‑standing Users After GLM‑4.7 Demand Spike
Zhipu has limited daily sales of its GLM Coding Plan to 20% of previous volumes as a temporary measure after GLM‑4.7 triggered heavy demand that strained compute resources and slowed model responses during peak hours. The cap, beginning Jan 23 and refreshed daily, aims to protect existing users while Zhipu expands capacity and tightens control over malicious traffic.
Zhipu AI Temporarily Caps GLM Coding Plan Sales After GLM‑4.7 Triggers Surge in Demand
Zhipu AI will temporarily cap daily sales of its GLM Coding Plan to 20% of current levels starting January 23 after the GLM‑4.7 release caused spikes in usage and intermittent slowdowns during weekday peak hours. The move protects existing subscribers and highlights persistent infrastructure and cost challenges for providers of code‑focused large language models.
Chinese Supplier Confirms It Made Grid Fins for 'Xingji Rongyao', Signalling Deeper Commercial Space Supply Chains
Guanglian Aviation confirmed it supplied grid fins for the Chinese vehicle 'Xingji Rongyao', a sign that private suppliers in China are producing flight‑critical hardware associated with guided re‑entry and potential stage recovery. This reflects growing technical sophistication and supply‑chain depth in China’s commercial space sector, with implications for market competition and technology governance.