Robots, AI will power factories within a decade, Nvidia’s CEO says

The world’s factories will be powered by robots and artificial intelligence within a decade, as machine learning and automation replace humans in assembly line work, especially those that are repetitive and hazardous, said the founder of the world’s most valuable company. Advertisement “Today, AI is [a] fundamental infrastructure, like electricity and internet before, [and] AI is revolutionising the supply chain, changing how we build and move things,” said Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, during the opening ceremony of the International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing on Wednesday. “Hundreds of…

Labubu craze to drive up profit 350%, Pop Mart says

Pop Mart, the Chinese toy firm behind the hugely popular Labubu dolls, has said its profits are set to soar for the first six months of this year. The Beijing-based company said in a preliminary statement that it expects profits for the period to jump by 350% as revenues more than tripled. Pop Mart, which has a stock market value of more than $45bn (£34bn), also said profitability had been boosted by increased recognition of the brand globally and cost controls. Collectors have been obsessed with the viral Labubu dolls…

Chinese brain drain a great loss for US, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says

It is a “great loss” for the United States that many Chinese academics and researchers have left the country and chosen to return to China amid worsening bilateral relations, said Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of chipmaker Nvidia. Advertisement “I’m also happy they go home, because that’s where they’re from,” Huang said in response to a question from the Post during a group interview on Tuesday. “But it’s an enormous loss for America when the brightest minds decide to come to you for education and decide to go home.” Huang…

China’s Xi Jinping makes case for free trade as supply chain expo opens

President Xi Jinping has spoken out against unilateral sanctions and trade barriers – reiterating China’s support for globalisation as the international economic environment turns more protectionist – in an article published on the opening day of a high-profile supply chain expo. Advertisement Wednesday’s piece in Qiushi – the leading theoretical journal of the ruling Communist Party – compiles statements Xi has made on the topic since 2012. The article, titled “Unswervingly Advancing High-Level Opening Up”, comes as China continues to make its case as a champion of free trade in…

The Taiwan papers: academics suggest how mainland China might rule island

As tensions between Beijing and Taipei rise, academia and the education sector reveal how each side is changing to adapt to – or shape – the new environment. In the first of a two-part series, we survey the vast research by mainland academics studying potential paths and models for governing the island. Advertisement For decades, Beijing has talked about peaceful reunification with Taiwan and possibly governing it under the arrangement of “one country, two systems”, a term that means the island could have a different political system than the mainland.…

FirstFT: Donald Trump announces US-Indonesia trade deal

This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter: The US-Indonesia trade deal How BYD caught up with Tesla Taiwan’s Han Kuang military drills Donald Trump has said the US has reached a trade deal with Indonesia that will result in the south-east Asian nation paying a 19 per cent tariff on its…

The EU is doing itself no trade favours in pushing China on Russia

Ahead of the China-European Union summit, set to take place in Beijing on July 24, the 27-nation bloc seems determined to adopt a firm stance in its relationship with the world’s second-largest economy. While accusing China of aiding Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, the EU also seeks what it sees as fairer economic relations. But can the growing pressure influence Beijing’s position on Moscow and the Ukraine conflict? Advertisement In a recent speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels “cannot accept” that China is “de facto enabling…

Lutnick says easing of Nvidia’s AI chip exports linked to China deal

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the US’s reversal of restrictions on sales of chips to China followed recent trade negotiations with Beijing over rare earths. President Donald Trump curbed exports of Nvidia’s H2O artificial intelligence chips to China in April as part of an escalation of his trade war with Beijing. But a person familiar with the situation said the commerce department would start approving export licenses for these chips,…

Trump’s pick for United Nations ambassador wants to ‘make the UN great again’

Mike Waltz, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for United Nations ambassador, vowed on Tuesday to make the world body “great again” – and that he would do so by confronting Beijing’s expanding influence while leading an overhaul of what he described as a bloated, favouritism-plagued institution. Advertisement “Countering China … is critical,” the former Florida congressman said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Waltz called it “absurd” that China, the world’s second-largest economy, was still “treated as a developing nation” and that most UN agencies continued…

US-China spy wars intensify under Trump 2.0 as tech competition heats up

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week arrested a suspected Chinese hacker for allegedly stealing sensitive American research on Covid-19 vaccines in 2020, the head of America’s top law enforcement agency hailed the episode as “manhunting” the Chinese Communist Party. Advertisement “The CCP’s relentless attacks on our institutions will not go unanswered,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on social media. “The FBI will hunt down those who threaten our national security – wherever they hide,” he wrote, adding, “huge … manhunting the CCP.” Then, soon after the FBI announced…