(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostFrom spectacle to scale: why China’s robotics firms face a ‘critical juncture’At China’s annual World Robot Conference (WRC) that kicked off on Wednesday, the hall was filled with humanoid robots wowing visitors with feats of dexterity: from playing table tennis to performing drum solos. These eye-catching displays have helped China’s robotics industry win global attention – and raise huge amounts of capital – over the past couple of years. But at this year’s summit, the overriding sentiment among executives, investors and policymakers was starkly pragmatic: the era of... (opens original source in a new tab)Howard Liu·19 August 2026
Technology (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AsiaAustralia: CSIRO Highlights Rising AI Alignment RisksAustralia’s CSIRO is highlighting rising AI alignment risks as increasingly autonomous AI agents create new governance, cybersecurity and accountability challenges for governments, businesses and public institutions. (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AI·19 August 2026
Technology (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AsiaIndonesia: AI and 3D Analysis Enable Smarter Road InspectionsA researcher at the University of Indonesia has developed an artificial intelligence-based method to detect and measure road surface depressions, with the aim of improving the speed and accuracy of infrastructure inspections. The research combines deep learning, three-dimensional geometric analysis and binocular stereo vision cameras to automate road condition assessments. The system is designed to […] (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AI·19 August 2026
Technology (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AsiaChina Sets New Five-Year Targets for Healthcare Security ReformChina has released a new five-year plan aimed at strengthening the accessibility, affordability and sustainability of its healthcare security system between 2026 and 2030. The plan, issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration, outlines measures to improve insurance coverage, manage rising healthcare demands and strengthen oversight of medical insurance funds. According to the official government […] (opens original source in a new tab)OpenGov AI·19 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostMeta accused of targeting children to boost Facebook and Instagram use, as US trial beginsMeta Platforms intentionally sought to addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. A bipartisan group of 29 US states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business. Four lead states – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – accuse Meta of designing Facebook and... (opens original source in a new tab)Reuters·18 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostMeet the Chinese AI star who splashed a reported US$70m on a California mansionTony Wu Yuhuai, the China-born co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence lab, sparked discussions across Chinese social media after reportedly spending US$70 million on a six-bedroom Californian mega-mansion. The property deal, the largest so far this year in the Bay Area, pushed the thirty-something AI star under the spotlight, alongside other Silicon Valley-based Chinese talent that has contributed to frontier AI labs from OpenAI to Meta Platforms. Wu appeared to be the buyer of a... (opens original source in a new tab)Iris Deng·18 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostNokia to close almost all sites in mainland China by year end, sources sayFinnish telecoms equipment giant Nokia plans to cut most of its workforce in mainland China and close sites in stages by year end, marking a sweeping retreat after more than four decades as it loses ground to domestic rivals, according to sources familiar with the situation. One Shanghai-based source said teams in both Nokia’s mobile networks and network infrastructure businesses in mainland China were set to undergo lay-offs in batches, with most of the cuts expected to be completed by the end. (opens original source in a new tab)Minxiao Chang,Wency Chen·18 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostAlibaba’s lightweight Qwen model takes on larger AI systems from OpenAI, DeepSeek, ZhipuAlibaba Group Holding’s new lightweight AI model Qwen3.8-27B has matched much larger near-frontier rivals while being able to run on everyday hardware, impressing developers as local AI gains momentum. The Qwen3.8-27B, a small model with 27 billion parameters, performed on par with OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Luna, which was billed as the most cost-efficient model in the US lab’s latest flagship series, benchmark firm Artificial Analysis said on Monday. It nearly matched leading open-weight models from... (opens original source in a new tab)Xinmei Shen·18 August 2026
AI & Machine Learning (opens original source in a new tab)MIT Technology ReviewWe still don’t know how people are really using AIAI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI regularly publish reports on how people are using products like Claude and ChatGPT, but they only release the data they want us to see, AI researchers say. “There is no independent source to corroborate it,” says Anka Reuel, a computer science PhD candidate at the Stanford Trustworthy AI Research… (opens original source in a new tab)Eileen Guo·18 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)Rest of WorldChinese carmakers now sell one EV abroad for every two at homeDwindling sales at home are pushing the cars toward Brazil, Thailand, and the Gulf. (opens original source in a new tab)Indranil Ghosh·18 August 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostBaidu’s quarterly revenue drops 4% as AI cloud surge fails to offset advertising slumpChinese tech giant Baidu on Tuesday posted a 4 per cent year-on-year decline in second-quarter revenue, as continued weakness in advertising outweighed growth in its artificial intelligence cloud operations, highlighting intensifying competition in China’s tech sector. Revenue for the three months ended June reached 31.3 billion yuan (US$4.62 billion), slightly missing the 31.6 billion yuan consensus estimate from analysts polled by Bloomberg. Net profit for the quarter was 2.3 billion... (opens original source in a new tab)Ben Jiang·18 August 2026
