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☆ Chris Martin gave a Coldplay fan a lift to a music festival
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Saundra Glenn was already a fan of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and that was before he gave her a lift. “The door opens and I said, ‘Oh, that’s Chris Martin, I can’t get in with him’ and they said ‘Yes, you can’,” Glenn told the BBC. That moment when Chris Martin @Coldplay saw me struggling to walk, stopped and gave me a lift to #BBC Accessible. “It’s the fact he’s conscious of disability, he’s such a kind person.”CNN has reached out to representatives for Martin for comment. Glenn, of course, stayed for the show, describing it as the “coolest festival” she’d ever attended.

Persons: Saundra Glenn, Chris Martin, Glenn, ”, ‘, that’s Chris Martin, I, ’, ” Glenn, Chris Martin @Coldplay, Glenn 💙, ade, artin, ake, ure Organizations: CNN, Coldplay, BBC, Luton, ust

☆ Tencent shrugged off a new US AI chip ban, saying it's stockpiled enough Nvidia processors for 'a couple more generations'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tencent president Martin Lau said on Wednesday the company is holding a vast stockpile of chips. Its inventory is enough to last its AI development a "couple more generations," Lau said. The US issued a new AI chip export ban to China in October, sparking fears that Tencent could be hit. But Lau also said Tencent will eventually have to pivot toward China-made AI chips. "Going forward, we have to figure out ways to make usage of our AI chips more efficient," Lau said.

Persons: Martin Lau, Lau, —, Tencent, Biden Organizations: US, Service, Nvidia, Baidu, Financial Times Locations: China

☆ Tencent says it stockpiled Nvidia AI chips but seeks Chinese replacements
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Tencent rushed to build up “one of the largest inventories of AI chips in China” before US export restrictions took hold, an executive said Wednesday. It is one of the chipmaker’s advanced AI chips designed for use in data centers, the physical facilities used to store troves of electronic information. In late October, Nvidia disclosed that the just-announced restrictions had come into effect “immediately,” weeks earlier than scheduled. “Going forward, we will have to figure out ways to make … the usage of our AI chips more efficient,” namely by working to retain most of the company’s high-performance chips for training the model, he added. The bot was developed specifically for corporate users, allowing them to catch up on meetings by viewing automated summaries or put together documents more efficiently, Lau told analysts.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — Tencent, Martin Lau, ”, ” Lau, Tencent, “, Biden, Kai, Fu Lee, Lau Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Nvidia, Bloomberg, Sinovation Ventures, Huawei, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation Locations: China, Hong Kong, China ”, United States, Beijing, Washington, Shenzhen

☆ Tencent to seek domestic AI training chip supplies after latest US curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We will have to figure out ways to make the usage of our AI chips more efficient," he said, "And we will also try to look for domestic source for these training chips." Lau's comments come as Chinese companies with AI ambitions are scrambling to cope with the United States' ever-expanding AI chip export restrictions to China. But now a growing number of Chinese tech firms are turning to homegrown chipmakers like Huawei Technologies [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] for AI chip supply. As such, the new chip curbs will not affect the development of Tencent's AI capability in the near term. The Nvidia H800 chips were AI chips Nvidia developed specifically for China late last year in response to an earlier US curb on AI chips to China.

Persons: Aly, Martin Lau, Baidu, Lau, Tencent, We'll, Josh Ye, Toby Chopra, Jane Merriman Organizations: Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Tencent Holdings, HK, Nvidia, Huawei Technologies, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG KONG, United States

☆ Tencent says has Nvidia AI chip stockpile but seeking to buy domestic
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Tencent has enough Nvidia chips to continue development of its "Hunyuan" AI model "for at least a couple more generations", so the curbs will not affect near-term AI capability, Lau said. "We will have to figure out ways to make the usage of our AI chips more efficient," he said. "And we will also try to look for domestic sources for these training chips." "We feel that the chip ban does actually affect our ability to resell (use of) these AI chips through our cloud services," he said. Nvidia plans to market new China-bound AI chips, with an announcement on Nov. 16 at the earliest, industry newsletter SemiAnalysis reported last week.

Persons: Aly, Martin Lau, Lau, We'll, SemiAnalysis, Josh Ye, Jane Merriman, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Tencent Holdings, HK, Nvidia, Huawei Technologies, Reuters, Baidu, Huawei, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG KONG, U.S

☆ 3D-weaving tech that uses body-scan data from shoppers could mean a better fit, fewer returns, and a zero-waste future for fashion
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Jake Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But 3D manufacturing, including printing and weaving, is helping create a zero-waste future. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn the late 1990s, the designer Issey Miyake unleashed his game-changing A-POC project, an early attempt at zero-waste fashion. Existing innovations are being fine-tuned daily, and creators are dreaming up ways to turn zero-waste fashion from a utopian dream into a reality. Despite these restrictions, Pasricha's designs were proof that zero-waste 3D printing was possible, especially with small designs such as buttons and jewelry. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe tech isn't there yet to ensure a zero-waste fashion industry, for various reasons.

Persons: —, Issey Miyake, Kevin Martin, Ashley Batz, Unspun, Martin, you'll, Catherine University's, Pasricha, Iris van Herpen, Martin lauds, Vega Organizations: Service, Oakland microfactory, Rhino Locations: California, Lam, — St

☆ China's internet giants bet big on A.I. as Beijing looks to rival U.S. on tech 'paradigm shift'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"This kind of computing power needs to be provided as a kind of public service or infrastructure. China, specifically, "has some of the most advanced AI tech in the world," he added. "We believe this is a Game of Thrones also playing out in the China Tech market as the gloves are on for this battle," Ives said. Many innovative vendors are going after this market and China tech is now in the midst of a secular shift around AI." The comments from some of China's top tech companies last week hint at how Beijing is seeking to ramp up its rivalry with the U.S. on AI.

Persons: BABA BABA, Robin Li, Baidu, Ernie Bot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Tencent, Martin Lau, Lau, Alibaba, Daniel Zhang, Dan Ives, Ives, Hao Hong, CNBC's, —, Tencent's Lau, Baidu's Li, Didi, Meituan Organizations: HK, Microsoft, Google, Wedbush Securities, CNBC, China Tech, Big Tech, Baidu, U.S, Nvidia, chipmaker Micron, Grow Investment Locations: China, Beijing, U.S, Alibaba

☆ Tencent's online ad revenue grows for the first time in more than a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Overall revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 came in at 144.95 billion yuan ($21.07 billion), higher than the 143.89 billion yuan estimated by FactSet. Average monthly users of WeChat in China and overseas rose by 3.5% from a year ago 1.31 billion accounts in the fourth quarter. Ad spendingIn-feed ads for video accounts generated more than 1 billion yuan in revenue in the fourth quarter, Tencent said. Revenue sourcesThe largest revenue segment, which includes the giant gaming business, fell by 2% to 70.4 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, in line with FactSet estimates for 70.2 billion yuan. Tencent's second-largest revenue source, financial technology and business services revenue fell by 1% to 47.2 billion yuan, below FactSet estimates for 49.49 billion yuan.

☆ Tencent says it will keep cutting costs as annual revenue drops
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) on Thursday vowed to keep cutting costs and work on increasing efficiencies as it reported a drop in annual revenue for the first time ever, with its founder saying the company would stay focused on its core business. Tencent posted revenue of 554.55 billion yuan ($81 billion) for 2022, down 1% from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 555.15 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv. Profit attributable to equity holders fell 16% to 188.24 billion yuan for the year versus a consensus estimate of 114.19 billion yuan. Reuters reported last month that Tencent was working on a ChatGPT-like chatbot named the "HunyuanAide" which will incorporate Tencent's Hunyuan AI model.

☆ Analysis: Tencent bets big on WeChat Channels in push to build its own TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"Tencent hopes it can turn Channels into the next WeChat Pay. Two sources familiar with Tencent said the importance of Channels has been repeatedly communicated within the company. In November, Tencent President Martin Lau said Channels' advertising revenue was on track to reach 1 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2022. "For example, in Douyin or Kuaishou, you won't be able to ask your viewers to add you on WeChat. But on Channels, you can quickly add somebody on WeChat," Yang said.

Over the last decade, the rise of internet giants like Tencent (0700.HK) exposed the flimsiness of the stereotype. “Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition” by Lulu Yilun Chen tracks the company’s evolution into a $350 billion social media and gaming behemoth. The backlash also undermined confidence in China’s private tech sector. U.S. venture capital investment has dwindled, and even Chinese tech investors are now venturing abroad. Follow @ywchen1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWS“Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition”, by Lulu Yilun Chen, was published by Hodder & Stoughton on July 14.

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