Category: Semafor

The world has a new humanoid robotics leader. Shanghai-based AgiBot surpassed the output of fellow Chinese robot maker Unitree in the first half of the year, shipping 8,400 humanoids and capturing 44% of the global market, according to a report from US-based firm Smart Analytics Global. That’s more than Unitree ...

Liz’s view A cardinal rule of finance is “always spend other people’s money.” It’s why leveraged buyouts include as much debt and as little equity as possible, and why the wealthy fund their lifestyles by borrowing against assets. The incentives, though, can be less than ideal. Milton Friedman, the legendary ...

In an unusually blunt assessment of China’s economic prospects, a leading Chinese economist has refuted the popular market theory that the current slump is the result of a “K-shaped” economy — with some sectors like EVs and AI thriving and others declining — arguing that the core problem is an ...

Chinese chip giant CXMT downplayed the impact of US restrictions in its latest investor filings, as the company looks to ramp up its overseas business. Apple is testing memory chips from the newly public company, The Wall Street Journal reported, as it grapples with an AI-induced memory shortage. The iPhone ...

Taiwan is conducting its largest-ever annual military preparedness drills alongside extensive civil defense exercises aimed at mobilizing a whole-of-society response in the event of conflict with China. Stretching from Aug. 5-14, the drills include several firsts: In addition to simulating the dispersal of defense production, Taiwan is throttling the island’s ...

China’s leaders invited dozens of scientists and technology experts to their annual summer retreat as they look to accelerate the country’s AI ambitions in the face of fierce competition with the US. Beijing is trying to control the entire supply chain in its AI stack — including developing advanced lithography ...

The Trump administration would push for the inclusion of Tibet’s exiled government in more international organizations under a new bipartisan proposal that rebukes China for its pressure campaign against the Tibetan people. The bill from Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and James Risch, R-Idaho, shared first with Semafor, would direct the ...

Andy’s view In the run-up to next month’s US-China presidential summit, another tit-for-tat trade spat is brewing. This time, the US has added advanced robotics — humanoid robots, quadruped robots (spindly-legged “robot dogs”) and robot lawn mowers — to an already long list of banned tech products dominated by China, ...

US President Donald Trump rejected Iranian demands for war reparations and instead called for Tehran to pay compensation for the deaths of American soldiers, the latest sticking point in delicate peace negotiations. Trump said the US has “control of the Strait of Hormuz,” while Tehran says the waterway will remain ...

Syria sentenced former dictator Bashar Al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes. His 24 years in office were marked by a brutal crackdown in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests and the subsequent Syrian civil war, in which an estimated 600,000 people died. Assad’s regime was accused ...