(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostVideo AI: MiniMax challenges ByteDance with low price, open weights for new H3 modelChinese AI firm MiniMax has launched H3, its newest multimodal video generation model, pledging to break closed-source “dominance” through open weights and competitive pricing – as rival ByteDance rolls out its latest Seedance 2.5 model. H3 was currently the world’s most powerful AI model in video editing, according to benchmark platform Artificial Analysis. However, it trailed Google’s Gemini Omni Flash in text-to-video tasks, and ranked behind both ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 and Gemini Omni... (opens original source in a new tab)Xinmei Shen·31 July 2026
Robotics & Automation (opens original source in a new tab)Robotics & Automation NewsFedEx expands Dexterity physical AI deployment for autonomous trailer loadingGlobal logistics company FedEx and warehouse automation specialist Dexterity have announced an expanded collaboration to scale Dexterity’s Foresight world model and Mech trailer loading systems at the FedEx Hagerstown Hub in Maryland. Built on multiple years of joint development, testing, and operational validation, the Hagerstown deployment expands the program beyond the pilot site previously used […] (opens original source in a new tab)David Edwards·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostChina’s debt ratio dips as households cut borrowing and firms slash investment: reportChina’s debt-to-GDP ratio fell in the second quarter for the first time since 2022, even as the government kept borrowing while households and private companies pulled back under the weight of falling home prices, sluggish income growth and shrinking profit margins, according to a new report. The ratio slipped 1.1 percentage points to 308.2 per cent, the National Institution for Finance and Development (NIFD), a Beijing-based think tank, said in a quarterly report on Thursday. The ratio compares (opens original source in a new tab)Huizhao Huang·31 July 2026
Robotics & Automation (opens original source in a new tab)Robotics & Automation NewsWhy Digital Cleanliness MattersYou likely check the locks on your doors before heading to bed every night. You keep your physical valuables tucked away from prying eyes, yet the most sensitive details of your life now live entirely in the cloud. We often treat our devices like permanent storage lockers, leaving front doors wide open across the internet. […] (opens original source in a new tab)David Edwards·31 July 2026
Robotics & Automation (opens original source in a new tab)Robotics & Automation NewsRetrofitting Old Buildings for Smart Grid Compliance: What Contractors Need to KnowA property manager calls about a 1958 mixed-use building downtown. The utility wants time-of-use metering installed by next quarter, the tenants want their AC to keep running through the switchover, and nobody on the ownership side wants to hear the words “full rewire”. This is, more or less, how most smart grid retrofit jobs start. […] (opens original source in a new tab)David Edwards·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostChina factories cool, CXMT surges, PLA marks anniversaryChina’s factory activity unexpectedly slipped into contraction for the first time in five months, and construction activity fell to its lowest since the pandemic, underscoring a divide in the nation’s economy that complicates efforts to revive growth. The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) dropped to 49.2 in July, missing the 50.1 median estimate in a Bloomberg poll of economists. Construction and services, part of non-manufacturing PMI, tumbled to 49 from 50.2 a month... (opens original source in a new tab)Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)WiredWhat’s Behind the Heat Wave Scorching Huge Parts of the WorldA combination of El Niño, unusually hot ocean waters, and jet stream changes is sending temperatures soaring in the US, Europe, and Asia. (opens original source in a new tab)Molly Taft·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)South China Morning PostChina’s export success is a by-product of self-relianceNot a day passes without someone in Europe or the United States complaining about China’s “overproduction” and “China shock 2.0”. The narrative is of a deliberate, subversive Chinese strategy, underpinned by subsidies, to undermine the manufacturing economies of the West and exert economic hegemony worldwide. Inaccurate as the narrative may be, it is widely accepted and used to justify demands for protection. The larger China’s trade surpluses, the louder the likely clamour from Western... (opens original source in a new tab)David Dodwell·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)STAT NewsOpinion: Limb girdle muscular dystrophy patients face a maddening reality“Too often, regulatory tools authorized to speed patient access to breakthrough treatments are being used in ways that even prevent approval,” writes Kat Bryant Knudson. (opens original source in a new tab)Kat Bryant Knudson·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)STAT NewsSyphilis spreads while researchers contend with federal constraints and a drug shortageAt the San Diego-Tijuana border, syphilis spreads while researchers contend with federal constraints and a drug shortage. (opens original source in a new tab)Eric Boodman·31 July 2026
(opens original source in a new tab)STAT NewsOpinion: We once praised the American Diabetes Association’s courage. How things have changed“The ADA is no longer what we’d call a profile in courage,” write Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky of Retraction Watch. (opens original source in a new tab)Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky·31 July 2026
