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US, China Prepare for Second Round of Talks in London

US, China Prepare for Second Round of Talks in London

Bloomberg3 hours ago

Good morning. The US and China gear up for another round of trade talks. Korean stocks may get their big break under the new president. And Daiwa's chief stands behind diversity initiatives even as Trump attacks them. Listen to the day's top stories.
Round 2: US and Chinese negotiators are set to open their second round of trade talks Monday in London, the first since Donald Trump and Xi Jinping finally broke a logjam. One promising sign: Beijing said it's already approved some rare-earth exports —a priority topic for Washington. A key goal for China will be to ease US chip controls. Don't get too excited though. Bloomberg Economics said it may be harder for either side to walk away with a win than in May's meeting.

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China's AI lab unveils RoboBrain 2.0 model to accelerate humanoid robot development
China's AI lab unveils RoboBrain 2.0 model to accelerate humanoid robot development

Yahoo

time28 minutes ago

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China's AI lab unveils RoboBrain 2.0 model to accelerate humanoid robot development

In a move that will further assert China's bid to scale robotics industry, the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI)—a not for profit research laboratory—unveiled last week a series of new open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models, dubbed RoboBrain 2.0, that will function as the 'brain' of robots. According to BAAI head Wang Zhongyuan, the use of powerful AI models in China's booming robotics market could accelerate the development and adoption of humanoids, as the sector works to overcome key challenges such as limited model capabilities and a lack of high-quality training data. Wang further explained that BAAI is actively seeking collaboration across the embodied intelligence industry, emphasizing the importance of joint efforts to accelerate progress. He noted that the institute is working with more than 20 leading companies in the sector and is looking to expand its network of partners to drive continued growth. Unveiled as part of China's broader push to advance intelligent machines, RoboBrain 2.0 was described by Wang as the world's most powerful open-source AI model designed to enhance a wide range of robots, including humanoids. Its debut positions BAAI as a potential key player in the evolving sector, the South China Morning Post reported. Furthermore, RoboBrain 2.0 introduces major improvements in spatial intelligence and task planning, delivering a 17% boost in speed and a 74% increase in accuracy compared to the previous version launched just three months earlier. With enhanced spatial intelligence, robots can now perceive distances from surrounding objects more precisely, while advanced task planning enables them to autonomously deconstruct complex activities into manageable steps, significantly improving overall performance. The RoboBrain model is part of the Wujie series, which also includes RoboOS 2.0—a cloud platform for deploying robotics AI models—and Emu3, a multimodal system capable of interpreting and generating text, images, and video. BAAI is one of China's early developers of open-source large language models, the technology behind generative AI chatbots. Several former employees have used their experience at BAAI to start their own AI companies, helping to grow the AI startup community in China. China's push to lead in robotics AI involves multiple players, with BAAI joined by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, which earlier this year launched Hui Si Kai Wu—a general-purpose embodied AI platform. The center is also known for developing the Tien Kung humanoid robot, which made headlines after completing a half-marathon in Beijing in April. The Chinese institution aims to have its platform become the "Android of humanoid robots," serving as a standard operating system much like Google's Android does in the smartphone industry. Moreover, this year's edition of the BAAI Conference attracted over 100 AI researchers from around the world and more than 200 industry experts, including leaders from major Chinese tech companies such as Baidu, Huawei Technologies, and Tencent Holdings. Additionally, the Chinese academy also announced a strategic partnership with the Hong Kong Investment Corporation to collaborate on talent development, technology advancement, and capital investment aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the country's AI sector.

Ram to enter trucks in 2026 with possible future move to Cup for Dodge
Ram to enter trucks in 2026 with possible future move to Cup for Dodge

Fox News

time29 minutes ago

  • Fox News

Ram to enter trucks in 2026 with possible future move to Cup for Dodge

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Dodge parent company Stellantis will enter NASCAR racing in 2026 with its Ram brand competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with an eye toward going Cup racing in the years beyond. Whether that's 2027 or later — 2027 is possible but would be an aggressive timeline — remains to be seen as the announcement Sunday focused primarily on the truck, a much easier lift than going Cup racing. With all trucks in the series using an Ilmor engine and several common body elements, Ram just needed to design a nose, a hood, front fenders and a tail for its racing vehicle. Ram did not announce who will drive its trucks nor the teams that will field its trucks. Ram CEO Tim Kinuskis said he hopes to have somewhere between four and six trucks for the 2026 season opener at Daytona. "We're looking for a date to the prom right now [for trucks]," Kinuskis said. "So how am I going to get the Cup? That's going to depend on how I get to truck. So however we get to truck is going will obviously weigh heavily on do I have a path to Cup? "Our intention is not to do a one-hit wonder and go to truck and not to Cup. That's not our plan." Ram does not have cars so what brand of car — Dodge? Plymouth's possible rebirth? — is still to be determined although Dodge has a lengthy history in the sport and motorsports as a whole. "Ram is coming back to the truck series," Kinuskis said. "It has nothing to do with Dodge, despite the fact that everyone in the world calls it Dodge Ram. ... If we go back to Cup, which is our intention, Ram doesn't have a car, so obviously that would have to be Dodge coming back. "But I'm not making that announcement. I'm not saying Dodge is back. Don't put that headline. But when we get to that point, it wouldn't be Ram, obviously." There is speculation in the industry that GMS, which has competed in all three national series over the last decade and was eventually bought out by Jimmie Johnson in the rebranding to Legacy Motor Club, will be involved in building chassis and/or fielding trucks for Ram. Kinuskis promised a program that will elevate fan engagement, and YouTube star Cleetus McFarland, who has competed in some ARCA races, has been linked to the Ram program. Dodge had Cup teams from 2001-12 before exiting the sport on a high note with Brad Keselowski winning a Cup title at Team Penske. When Penske left for Ford, Dodge had trouble landing a premier team and opted to leave the sport. No new manufacturer has entered the sport since Toyota did so in 2004 in trucks and 2007 in Cup. Kinuskis also said when he returned to Ram earlier this year, his two goals were to reintroduce the Hemi engine and get into NASCAR, where 50 percent of its fan base own trucks. "It's always bothered me," Kinuskis said. "We've always been looking for a way to get back. It took us a long time to find the absolute right time." To re-enter Cup would take some engine development and significant body design, a process that would take at least 18 months, NASCAR Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst said. "The last time that engine ran was 2012 — the core components of the block, the head, the manifold, are all still relevant," Probst said. "Our existing engine builders develop their engines every year. There's been a gap there, so there'd be some development of that engine needed. "But from the basic building blocks they could start from that and do some catch-up development." Kinuskis wouldn't talk about a timeline Sunday for going to Cup racing. "Our full intention is to be back in Cup," Kinuskis said. "But right now we're on a path for Daytona next year with truck, with our eye on when we can be in Cup after that. TBD. "We're a fly with no net right now trying to get to Daytona. That's our focus right now." Keselowski, currently a driver and co-owner at RFK Racing, said the trucks are the right entry point for a manufacturer as it doesn't have to immediately get an engine available and because of the parity in the series. "[The truck series] is a great place for an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] to enter NASCAR and really kind of get that appetite going for the Cup Series," Keselowski said. "It's a big jump from the truck series to the Cup Series, but nonetheless it's a great entry point for OEMs, and hopefully they aren't the only one that will enter the truck series." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

Hong Kong has all but abandoned the dollar peg
Hong Kong has all but abandoned the dollar peg

Yahoo

time30 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Hong Kong has all but abandoned the dollar peg

Interest rates in Hong Kong have been eerily low, raising the question of whether the city's dollar peg is now in name only. Interest rates in Hong Kong have been eerily low, raising the question of whether the city's dollar peg is now in name only. Hong Kong surrendered its monetary autonomy decades ago, thanks to a unique mechanism that restricts its currency fluctuation to a narrow band of 7.75 and 7.85 per dollar. That means the city's borrowing costs move in lockstep with those in the US, which are dictated by the Federal Reserve's rate policies. Lately, though, currency traders have been staring at an anomaly. The one-month Hong Kong interbank offered rate, or Hibor, has collapsed since early May. The gap with the US secured overnight financing rate, or SOFR, is at an unprecedented level of more than three percentage points. Investors are now asking what caused this divergence and whether Hibor will stay lower for longer. The first part of the story is well understood. Last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority purchased the greenback amid a global dollar rout to prevent its currency from strengthening beyond 7.75. HKMA's balance sheet ballooned while a flood of new local money pushed down Hibor. But such glaring bifurcation from SOFR should only be temporary. When local funding costs are significantly lower, traders can borrow Hong Kong dollars and sell them against the higher-yielding US counterpart. This, in turn, will lift the city's currency and rates over time. The fact that this rate gap has not narrowed shows there's little appetite to earn dollar carry trades. Wall Street banks are reinforcing their calls that the dollar will weaken further. In addition, there's talk of an Asian Financial Crisis in reverse, marked by a violent rally in local currencies such as the one Taiwan witnessed in early May. What if HKMA all of a sudden decides to move the currency peg to a stronger range? Gains from the carry trade would be instantly wiped out. Investors are right not to lose sight of the big picture. After all, Taiwan dollar's 8% melt-up last month proved painful for under-hedged insurers and exporters. On an economic level, this trend can be a huge boon for a financial hub that is trying to regain its footing. In recent years, businesses have complained about the dollar peg, saying that Fed rate hikes unnecessarily tightened the city's financial conditions and hamstrung its economic recovery. Hong Kong's anaemic residential real estate, for one, could see a rebound if the current trend continues. The prevailing new mortgage rate would be only 2.1%, versus 3.5% in early May. For a 30-year loan with a 70% loan-to-value ratio, monthly payments could be cut by about 15%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The value of underwater mortgages would fall as well. A persistent rate gap reveals two things: First, the 'Sell America' trade is real. Second, the city has practically moved on from a waning reserve currency, tearing itself from an interest rate trajectory mapped out by central bankers thousands of miles away. This peg is too archaic. See Also: Click here to stay updated with the Latest Business & Investment News in Singapore China's global income tax crackdown expands beyond ultra rich Hong Kong's 2025 growth outlook cut by AMRO on trade uncertainty Chinese listing spree sparks revival hopes in Hong Kong stocks Read more stories about where the money flows, and analysis of the biggest market stories from Singapore and around the World Get in-depth insights from our expert contributors, and dive into financial and economic trends Follow the market issue situation with our daily updates Or want more Lifestyle and Passion stories? Click hereError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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