Day: July 30, 2026

Will US red tape and other infrastructure delays give China the lead in AI race?

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China could win the artificial intelligence race if delays in establishing the United States’ AI infrastructure are not addressed, a congressional hearing heard on Thursday, just days before the deadline for the release of new industry guard rails. “We are in a strategic competition with China to lead the world on AI, and winning that race requires massive capital investment to build the networks that will power tomorrow’s AI applications,” said US Senator Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The hearing concentrated on the…

Southwest China landslide death toll rises to 51 as search and rescue continues

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The death toll from a landslide in Chongqing province, southwest China, earlier this month rose to 51, with 10 people still missing, local authorities said late on Thursday night. The landslide, which occurred two weeks ago in Pengshui county, swept away several residential buildings at the foot of a mountain along a riverbank. Chongqing landslide traps dozens Quoting the command centre of the rescue effort, state-run news agency Xinhua said that 51 people had been found and confirmed dead, while 10 were still missing. Drone footage showed rescuers confronted by…

What We Know About Dr. Fauci Pleading the Fifth in Senate Hearing on Covid Origins

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After Dr. Anthony S. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself at the start of a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Republicans spent the next three hours battering him with questions and allegations as he sat in silence. Citing thousands of pages of government records, they held Dr. Fauci, the government’s top Covid adviser during the pandemic, responsible for school closures and lockdowns; accused him of enriching himself as people died; and even mocked his interactions with celebrities. Most significantly, they accused him of funding research that led…

Could AI take your job? Some workers in China already know the answer

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On the tree-lined streets of Wuhan, where cars jostle for space with mopeds and cargo trucks, the malfunctioning of a new type of vehicle has recently been causing chaos on the city’s roads. In March, several cars from a fleet of driverless taxis stopped abruptly in the streets. The “system malfunction” left distressed riders stranded for hours. The robotaxis, known as Apollo Go and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), were taken off Wuhan’s streets for months for investigations. But the outage was a boon for 45-year-old taxi driver Yao Xinnong.…

Will the global testosterone decline accelerate the shift to robot warfare?

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The Pentagon has introduced mandatory testosterone screening for active-duty service members aged 30 and older, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the policy is intended to strengthen combat readiness. Announcing the programme earlier this month, Hegseth said it would help ensure troops remained “strong, resilient and capable”. He argued that the demands of modern warfare required “maximum psychological and mental readiness”. He also stressed that the initiative had “nothing to do with artificial enhancement”. Male hormone decline is a global issue that has raised concerns in many other countries…

Trump nominee vows to sharpen US media challenge to China

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US President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the United States’ international broadcasting agency pledged on Thursday to sharpen its media challenge to China, including by expanding into short-form videos, podcasts and diaspora group chats. Sarah B. Rogers told a Senate committee hearing that Asia would remain a top regional priority for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Voice of America (VOA) and funds Radio Free Asia and other international broadcasters. “China is rapacious and it is expanding all of its propaganda efforts,” Rogers said. “Chinese adversarial propaganda…

The future of AI hinges on openness and cooperation. China and Britain can gain much by working together | Zheng Zeguang

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Artificial intelligence is widely regarded as one of the defining technologies of our time. Like the steam engine, the harnessing of electricity and the internet before it, it has the potential to transform how we work, live and interact. But every technological revolution brings challenges as well as opportunities. As AI systems become more capable, people are asking legitimate questions. How can AI remain safe, accountable and under human control? How should its development be governed? How can its benefits be shared more widely? These questions were at the heart…

China, Its Economy Stumbling, Signals Only Cautious Support

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Faced with weak consumer spending, persistently high youth unemployment and a tumbling stock market, China’s ruling Politburo signaled the need for stronger fiscal support and directed authorities to do more to tackle joblessness. In a broadly worded statement issued on Thursday after its annual midyear review of the economy, China’s Communist Party leadership urged the government to pursue “more proactive” tax and spending policies, and increase employment support. Politburo statements rarely detail specific policy measures, instead setting the broad direction for government action. Even by those standards, however, the statement…

China accuses Philippines of ‘flagrantly infringing’ on sovereignty in seabed claim

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Beijing accused Manila of “flagrantly infringing” on Chinese sovereignty and undermining regional peace after the Philippines formally presented its bid to the United Nations this week for extended seabed rights in the South China Sea. The rebuttal, issued by China’s mission to the UN on Thursday, followed Manila’s presentation before the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Beijing said the filing violated its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the disputed waters, and urged the 21-member commission not to consider it under its…