Latest news with #China-developed
CNBC
a day ago
- Business
- CNBC
China's fintech giant Ant doubles down on health care with new AI app — and it wants it to go global
BEIJING — Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group is doubling down on health care with a new smartphone app, based on artificial intelligence technology that the company says could be rolled out overseas. It's the latest sign of how China-developed AI is quickly building consumer applications. Ant, operator of the popular Alipay mobile payments app, has focused much of its AI development efforts on health care based on large language models from DeepSeek, Alibaba and Ant. In a telling sign of global aspirations, the new health-care app launched on Thursday has a straightforward English name — AQ — which stands for "answer your question," said Zhang Junjie, general manager of health-care business at Alipay. Users can consult AI avatars of real-life medical specialists before getting priority access for a diagnostic appointment or hospital care if the situation is serious enough, he said. AQ can tap more than 5,000 hospitals and nearly 1 million doctors in China, according to Ant. While Ant's focus is on the mainland China market for now, the new app or its tech could be licensed out to a third party, Zhang said, without specifying a time frame. He said many foreigners in China have already used a pilot version of the app, and that Ant plans to release versions of the app in other languages. Chinese companies from startups to more established companies such as Tencent and Ping An Insurance have long sought to capitalize on the integration of internet and software with health care. In the last several months, U.S.-based tech giants such as Microsoft and have also announced progress on AI-powered health-care tools. In China, a large data pool and nationwide emphasis on digitalization have helped provide a foundation for AI-powered health-care functions, according to a report last month from the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. It pointed out that China's national health insurance system covers more than 95% of the country's 1.4 billion people, while about 70% of hospitals have digital record-keeping systems. Alipay is one of the two major mobile payments apps in mainland China. In addition to payments, the app can be used to pay the water bill, hail a taxi or order groceries from Alibaba's supermarket chain. The payments app has also branched into health care over the last decade, with features such as allowing users to digitally make an appointment at one of China's notoriously crowded public hospitals, instead of having to wait in line for a ticket. Those Alipay health-care services have already reached nearly 80 million users in China, Zhang said. The standalone AQ app incorporates those features, along with AI-powered functions such as doctor recommendations, medical report analysis and personalized medical advice. Alipay has expanded to users outside China, as has its mobile payments rival WeChat.
CNBC
05-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
It's not just AI — China's quickly gaining an edge over the U.S. in biotech
BEIJING — For all the attention on U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence, new studies point to China's rapid rise in biotechnology, especially for drug and agricultural development. Out of five critical tech sectors, "China has the most immediate opportunity to overtake the United States in biotechnology," the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs said Thursday in its release of a "Critical and Emerging Technologies Index," covering AI, biotech, semiconductors, space and quantum. While the U.S. is still the leader in all five, "the narrow U.S.-China gap [in biotech] suggests that future developments could quickly shift the global balance of power," the report said. The assessment echoes growing concerns in Washington. In fact, the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology struck a more urgent tone in an April report, citing two years of research. "There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology, and if China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up," the bipartisan Congressional commission said in the report, referring to the transformative chatbot released by U.S.-based OpenAI. "Our window to act is closing. We need a two-track strategy: make America innovate faster, and slow China down," the commission said. It recommends that the U.S. government spend at least $15 billion over the next five years to support the domestic biotech sector. China's biotech industry has evolved to the point that U.S. and European pharmaceutical giants in the last several months have spent billions to acquire China-developed drugs that could treat cancer if commercialized with regulatory approval. In March, British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced it will invest $2.5 billion in a research and development center in Beijing. The Harvard Belfer Center pointed out that China's biotech strengths stem from its "dominance in pharmaceutical production and manufacturing," in addition to having more human talent than the U.S. China also has a "more flexible regulatory regime and the ability to push things out faster," Cynthia Y. Tong, one of the Harvard report's authors, told CNBC in an interview Thursday. She noted that the U.S. tends to have a longer approval process, as well as more drawn out research and development period. And just as China is developing its biotech sector, reports from the U.S. biotech hub of Cambridge and Boston are revealing layoffs and empty labs. China has long used multi-year plans and preferential state policies to encourage the development of key technologies. Biotech is no different, gaining high-level support back in 2007. "Currently, the U.S. government has no cohesive, intentional biotechnology strategy, while China is gaining ground thanks to its aggressive and carefully coordinated state-led initiatives," the U.S. security commission said. The worry is that just as Chinese restrictions on rare earths start to hit car manufacturers, Chinese dominance in biotech could become yet another form of leverage for Beijing over the U.S. and other countries. "The likelihood there's going to be cooperation [between the] U.S. and China on anything is very low, in some ways least likely on biotech and AI" because of the congressional report, said Eric Rosenbach, director of the defense, emerging technology, and strategy program at Harvard's Belfer Center. He was chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2015 to 2017. He expects more U.S. pressure on China. It remains to be seen what that would mean in practice for businesses — though some say the future of biotech development is inherently global. Insilico Medicine, a startup using AI to cut drug discovery costs, relies on a global team spread across China, North America and the Middle East, according to its founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov. On Tuesday, the company announced with a paper in Nature Medicine that it was the first to see successful clinical testing with an AI-discovered drug. While Insilico's AI work typically happens in Canada and Abu Dhabi, the chemical testing and experiments are done in China, Zhavoronkov said, adding that the head of clinical development is in Boston. He declined to comment on a commercialization timeline in light of conversations with regulators. Other data shows that China has surpassed the U.S. in the number of clinical trials conducted, seen significant patent growth and boasts the most life sciences construction activity in the world. China-based Capital O venture partner Yang Fan, who previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry, said he expects the best biotech companies of the future will navigate different countries' regulations and use resources across the globe, if not benefit from arbitrage opportunities given different requirements and cost of entry in various markets. "The Chinese market is like a big supermarket for anything that can be commoditized, AI or biotechnology," he said, adding that new startups in China have to be "really good" to stand out. As AI drives innovation costs down, Fan predicts that in biotech, "the real DeepSeek moment is probably going to happen in five years."
The Sun
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
FAW-Volkswagen to launch two new NEVs in China by 2027 on CMP Platform
FAW-VOLKSWAGEN, the long-standing joint venture between China's FAW Group and Germany's Volkswagen, has announced plans to introduce two new energy vehicles (NEVs) by 2027, both of which will be based on the China-developed CMP platform. These models will be manufactured exclusively for the domestic Chinese market and will not be exported abroad. The new vehicles will offer customers the choice between fully electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) configurations. The announcement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding on 4 June between FAW-Volkswagen and the Tianjin Economic Development Zone Government, aimed at accelerating the growth of the NEV sector within the region. As part of this collaboration, FAW-Volkswagen confirmed that its assembly plant in Tianjin, which currently has a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles annually, will serve as the manufacturing hub for the two upcoming models. The move marks a significant step in the company's broader strategy to localise innovation and expand its NEV lineup in China. The CMP (China Main Platform) architecture, which underpins the new models, represents Volkswagen's latest technological initiative developed entirely within its Chinese operations. The platform made its debut earlier this year at the Shanghai Auto Show 2025 with the unveiling of the ID. Aura concept car. Designed specifically for the Chinese market, the CMP platform is compatible with both battery electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains. It incorporates the locally designed CEA electronic and electrical architecture, which significantly reduces the number of control units by 30 per cent. The CMP architecture also allows for seamless integration of vehicle functions such as the intelligent cockpit, advanced driver assistance systems, and over-the-air (OTA) updates. Volkswagen claims that the CMP platform enables a 30 per cent acceleration in product development timelines. This announcement builds upon earlier reports from May 2024, when FAW-Volkswagen revealed plans to invest 2.3 billion yuan (approximately USD 319 million) to develop three new vehicle models. On 4 June 2025, the company provided further clarity by confirming that two of those models will be NEVs built on the CMP platform at the Tianjin facility. While the company has not disclosed detailed specifications or timelines for production commencement, it has reaffirmed that these vehicles will be tailored specifically for Chinese consumers, with no intention to market them overseas. This strategy reflects Volkswagen's commitment to strengthening its footprint in China through locally engineered solutions, while also aligning with national objectives to boost the development of the NEV industry.
