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By Viola Zhou ChinaUnited States Ideas 7 July 2026 China’s AI boom is creating a different kind of entrepreneur Backed by the state, Chinese workers are using AI to deal with limited resources and drive innovation to compete with Silicon Valley. By Lin Zhang China Innovation 6 July 2026 China’s web novel platforms embraced AI. Now they are fighting it Sites from Tencent, ByteDance, and Baidu set curbs like daily word limits for authors and stricter standards to combat poor-quality automated fiction. By Viola Zhou ChinaMaldivesUnited States Global Dispatch 29 June 2026 I went to the Maldives. Everyone wanted to talk about Temu The Chinese shopping app has become so popular that even a government surcharge couldn't slow demand. By Itika Sharma Punit ChinaUnited States EV Revolution 25 June 2026 What happened to China’s overseas EV factory boom? Three charts show China’s promised overseas production hasn’t materialized — yet. By Ananya Bhattacharya ChinaUnited States EV Revolution 24 June 2026 China and the West are taking opposite paths on EV battery recycling China has 85% of the world’s recycling capacity and a mandate to shred old packs. The U.S. has another plan: Use them to save the power grid first. By Indranil Ghosh China Innovation 22 June 2026 Chinese universities are cutting language majors to make way for AI Universities are dropping programs in translation and foreign languages while adding degrees in embodied intelligence, AI, and robotics. By Kinling Lo China Global Dispatch 19 June 2026 GoPro and Roomba were U.S. pioneers. Chinese rivals now dominate China's consumer-tech brands keep gaining ground. By Kinling Lo ChileChinaUnited States Innovation 18 June 2026 Chile turned to China for an undersea cable. The U.S. said no A proposed undersea cable from Chile to Hong Kong promised to connect South America directly to Asia. Instead, it became a test of how far the U.S. will go to curb Chinese telecom ambitions. By Juan Ortiz-Freuler ChinaUnited States China Outside China 17 June 2026 When Americans choose Chinese AI Developers say DeepSeek is good enough for a fraction of the cost. “You don’t need God to write your email.” By Viola Zhou ChinaUnited States Q & A 15 June 2026 Can open-source beat OpenAI? Former Hugging Face executive Tiezhen Wang explains how China's open-source strategy is reshaping the AI race. By Kinling Lo ChinaUnited States China Outside China 11 June 2026 China builds a rival satellite constellation as SpaceX goes public A Chinese state-backed satellite company is signing the partners and governments Starlink has pushed aside, days before SpaceX’s record listing. By Indranil Ghosh ChinaIndiaSouth KoreaTaiwanUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited States Innovation 9 June 2026 The Great AI Divide: Navigating U.S. and Chinese dominance At a Rest of World event during New York Tech Week, we explored the challenges and possible solutions to the dominance of American and Chinese AI companies. By Rina Chandran ChinaDemocratic Republic of the CongoIndiaKenyaTaiwan Global 5 June 2026 What to read: A summer book list Rest of World recommends eight books that cover the history of resistance to tech, our relationship with AI companions, the danger of our dependence on Taiwan chips, and more. By Rest of World China Innovation 3 June 2026 China is training a robot future — one folded shirt at a time Localized, low-cost data harvested in homes and factories gives China a scaling edge over the research-heavy and outsourced U.S. approach. By Viola Zhou ChinaIndiaUnited States Global Dispatch 29 May 2026 Pope’s encyclical raises questions on who gets to shape AI The encyclical provides an ethical and moral framework for AI, but one that is steeped in Catholicism and ignores the faiths and practices of a majority of the world’s population. By Rina Chandran China Innovation 28 May 2026 China’s tech rise is creating a new kind of tourism Foreign visitors are flocking to China’s factories and AI startups in search of the next technological breakthrough. By Kinling Lo ChinaIndiaSingaporeUnited States Innovation 26 May 2026 The agentic divide: Why “good enough” AI isn’t enough to survive the new economy A widening gap in agent quality is creating a two-tier system where well-resourced firms scale infinitely while small players are trapped by high-friction, "low-trust" tools. By Rina Chandran ChinaUnited States Global Dispatch 22 May 2026 What AI race? China and U.S. AI worlds are tightly connected Despite geopolitical tensions, Chinese and American AI industries remain intertwined through research networks, collaboration, and a shared cultural identity. By Viola Zhou ChinaUnited States Ideas 19 May 2026 Silicon Valley keeps misreading China’s role in tech The heads of Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia regard Chinese companies as peers, not enemies, unlike most other Silicon Valley founders. By Lex Zhao ChinaUnited States Global 13 May 2026 What’s at stake for tech at the Trump-Xi meeting U.S.-China summit to likely cover AI rivalry, chip exports, supply chain security, and the EV trade as leaders navigate intensifying geopolitical tensions. By Viola Zhou and Kinling Lo ChinaTaiwanUnited States Q & A 12 May 2026 Taiwan’s chips power the global economy. China holds the leverage Big Tech’s reliance on TSMC makes the China-Taiwan dispute the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flashpoint, says writer Eyck Freymann ahead of this week’s Xi-Trump meeting in Beijing. By Rina Chandran ChinaUnited States Features 11 May 2026 The Chinese whiz kids of Silicon Valley Chinese-born tech workers have fueled Silicon Valley for decades. In the AI era, they're superstars. By Viola Zhou ChinaTaiwanUnited States Global Dispatch 8 May 2026 Some Taiwanese drone math ahead of the Xi-Trump visit Recalling my visit to Thunder Tiger, a Taiwanese company building “non-China” drones for the U.S. military. By Kinling Lo ChinaIranNorth KoreaUnited States Innovation 5 May 2026 The global cybersecurity gap deepens as AI-powered attacks surge Restricted access to powerful defensive AI tools like Anthropic’s Mythos leaves some companies, central banks, and nations more vulnerable than others. By Rina Chandran AngolaChinaDemocratic Republic of the CongoUnited States EV Revolution 30 April 2026 An old railroad is key to U.S.-China race for critical metals in Africa Washington is trying to use the Lobito Railway in Congo to break China’s hold on critical metals in Africa, writes Nicholas Niarchos in his new book, The Elements of Power. By Nicolas Niarchos China Tech Giants 29 April 2026 The quiet layoffs sweeping China’s tech giants Alibaba reduced its head count by a third in 2025, while Baidu’s workforce declined nearly 7%. “There’s constant churn,” a Chinese tech worker said. By Kinling Lo China Global 29 April 2026 I got stood up by an AI agent, and tracked down its human owner in China A solo entrepreneur is paying a quarter of his salary to let AI agents run his side-hustle app. He recently realized his "employees" have been keeping secrets. By Viola Zhou ChinaIndonesiaMalaysiaSingaporeUnited States Global Dispatch 24 April 2026 AI optimism surges in Asia, unlike in the U.S. New research shows Americans are far less excited about AI — and far less trusting of regulators — than their counterparts across Asia. By Rina Chandran AfghanistanChinaIndiaNigeriaUS Innovation 23 April 2026 The global edtech boom is fading as investors look elsewhere Venture capital is moving away from K-12 edtech worldwide as investors prioritize AI tools and workforce training with clearer returns. By Ananya Bhattacharya China Global 14 April 2026 RedNote chases U.S. expansion after its “TikTok refugee” moment fades China's Xiaohongshu has an uphill climb in a saturated market as it hires in the U.S. and launches an e-commerce portal for overseas markets. By Viola Zhou ChinaUnited States Global Dispatch 10 April 2026 Chinese entrepreneurs should go global before they go viral The Meta-Manus deal holds lessons for U.S. investors and Chinese founders alike. By Viola Zhou China Innovation 31 March 2026 The world’s largest humanoid robot maker is going public China’s Unitree is profitable, scaling fast, and cutting prices even as most humanoid robots remain far from mass adoption. By Kinling Lo China Global Dispatch 27 March 2026 In China, AI is forcing a rethink on jobs, education, and creativity We’ve moved beyond a simple job market shift. By Kinling Lo China Innovation 27 March 2026 AI glasses are catching on in China, from shopping to cheating Early adopters are renting AI glasses for $6 a day for navigation, translation, and school exams. By Viola Zhou China Innovation 19 March 2026 “It feels like Squid Game”: China’s workers scramble to keep up in the AI race Employees are rushing to learn new tools as layoffs and automation fuel widespread AI anxiety. By Kinling Lo Posts navigation Previous About us Privacy Policy Platforms Newsletter Donate Contact © 2026 Rest of World