White House Whipsaws Silicon Valley (and Itself) Over A.I. Rules
The Trump administration has struggled over how to approach to “open source” models, which are freely available to download and favored by Chinese companies.
Technology
SpaceX’s first results put Musk’s AI spending under Wall Street microscope
SpaceX results offer investors a first test of whether its lofty valuation matches Musk’s AI-space vision A sign displays outside Nasdaq on the day of SpaceX’s initial public offering (IPO) in New York City, US, June 12, 2026. REUTERS SpaceX’s first earnings report since its record-breaking IPO will provide an early gauge of whether Starlink’s profits … Read more
Alibaba unveils its largest AI model yet, DeepSeek’s latest model is ultra-low cost
The developments show Chinese AI firms racing to build more powerful systems without sharply raising costs Qwen and Alibaba logos are seen in this illustration taken, January 29, 2025. REUTERS China’s Alibaba on Monday unveiled its largest and most capable AI model to date, sending its shares surging, while a research firm said DeepSeek’s latest … Read more
If You Can’t Beat A.I., Outdress It, Tech Firms and Their Swag Say
Over the years, tech workers have proudly worn nerdy company-branded gear. But this generation of hot companies is getting fancy with its merch.
China’s observatory discovers powerful cosmic particle accelerator
China’s LHAASO identifies Cygnus X-3 as the most powerful particle accelerator yet discovered in the universe Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary system consisting of a compact object (likely a black hole) and a Wolf-Rayet star. This artist’s concept shows one interpretation of the system. PHOTO: JPL, NASA Scientists using China’s Large High Altitude … Read more
2.5 hours saved! Cliff elevator becomes students’ cloud shuttle
Nizhu River’s new 288-meter cliff elevator and cable car now give local students a free “cloud shuttle” to school Students from Nizhuhe Village take a cable car on their way to school in Puli Township, Xuanwei City, southwest China’s Yunnan Province,. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) From three hours to just 30 minutes — a newly opened 288-meter … Read more
OpenAI says has more than 1 billion active users
OpenAI missed its early-2026 goal of 1 billion users as rising competition slowed its growth, US media report In early July, OpenAI released three versions of its new model, GPT-5.6, including a “low-cost” version, Luna, which costs one-fifth as much as the highest-performing model, Sol. PHOTO: AFP OpenAI announced on Friday that it had surpassed … Read more
China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System completes in-orbit upgrade
China says its navigation system will develop new technologies for more reliable global positioning services An Illustration shows China BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. PHOTO: CTGN The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has wrapped up an in-orbit upgrade to provide higher-quality services, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO). While ensuring stable operations, the system … Read more
Alphabet rolls back AI image generation in Google Earth over policy violations
Google’s Nano Banana 2 AI lets users create realistic Earth images from text prompts worldwide Alphabet’s Google said on Friday it was rolling back an AI image-generation feature it had introduced in Google Earth just a day ago, after users shared images that appeared to violate the company’s policies. The feature, powered by Google’s Nano … Read more
What is AI model distillation and why is it becoming a US-China flashpoint?
US AI firms have accused Chinese rivals of using the technique to extract capabilities from proprietary models A technique that allows developers to shrink powerful artificial intelligence models into cheaper, more efficient systems has become the latest battleground in the intensifying US-China race for AI dominance. Known as model distillation, the method uses the outputs of a … Read more