Latest news with #Gu
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PLTFRM Launches AI Virtual Human Livestreaming, Increasing Sales of BROTHER Printers by 30%
SHANGHAI，CHINA, July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BROTHER, the renowned global printer brand, recently achieved a remarkable 30% increase in e-commerce sales by adopting PLTFRM's AI-powered virtual human livestream technology. In partnership with PLTFRM, a creative agency specialising in digital branding and communication solutions, BROTHER witnessed firsthand the commercial potential of AI-driven livestreaming for Virtual Human Livestreaming: A New Era in E-Commerce AI virtual human livestreaming is rapidly reshaping China's e-commerce landscape. These AI-generated hosts deliver interactive livestreams that closely replicate human behaviour. Even founder Richard Liu has launched an AI avatar to host his own sales livestreams, signalling growing acceptance and excitement within the industry. Unlike traditional livestreaming, which typically requires a team of 3–4 people—including a host, technical operator, and support staff—AI livestreams operate 24/7 with minimal manpower. A single digital human can handle hosting, answering audience questions, and switching products in real time, significantly reducing operational costs. Today's AI hosts are nearly indistinguishable from real people, with expressive facial gestures, lifelike voices, and fluid audience interaction. Their realism and efficiency have made them credible and cost-effective substitutes, driving measurable sales growth for brands. BROTHER PRINTER: A Century-Old Brand Embraces AI Known for its durable and high-performance devices, BROTHER initially deployed AI livestreaming as a brand visibility tool during off-peak hours. 'We didn't expect major sales results at first,' said Ms. Gu, Head of Branding at BROTHER China. 'Our goal was to maintain a consistent brand presence and convey our values of professionalism and reliability outside of prime-time slots.' However, within just two hours of its first AI livestream powered by PLTFRM AI, the campaign generated over ¥18,000 (US$2,500+) in direct sales—far surpassing expectations. Sales Up 30%, Costs Down 80% Today, BROTHER runs AI-powered livestreams across four online flagship stores on and Tmall, operating continuously 24/7. Compared with the same period last year, the brand has seen a 30% increase in sales and an 80% reduction in livestreaming costs. 'Every morning, we check the data to see how much our AI host sold while we were asleep,' Ms. Gu shared. 'It's now part of our daily routine.' One particularly surprising insight: 30% of total sales occurred during late-night hours—a time previously neglected by traditional human-hosted streams. Many of these transactions came from first-time customers, drawn by the AI host's clear and professional explanations of technical product benefits—at any time of day. BROTHER's AI avatar emphasised key selling points like its separate drum-and-toner design and renowned long-term durability—hallmarks of the brand's century-long legacy of engineering excellence. Behind the Tech: PLTFRM AI This success story was made possible by PLTFRM, a Shanghai-based brand management agency with 15 years of experience in digital marketing and over a decade in e-commerce livestreaming. Since 2023, PLTFRM has partnered with Baidu Cloud to incorporate cutting-edge AI tools into its livestreaming services. The agency's AI Virtual Human Livestreaming Service (PLTFRM AI) provides end-to-end support—from avatar creation and product upload to scripting, audience engagement, and multi-platform integration. BROTHER's project went live within just two weeks of initial planning. Strategy First: Matching People, Product, and Place According to PLTFRM co-founder Qian Dejun, AI livestreaming is most effective when it follows traditional retail principles: matching the right host, product, and place. While AI lowers entry barriers, achieving real impact requires professional execution—custom avatars, optimised sales scripts, realistic virtual studios, and carefully scheduled streaming slots. Mr. Qian, who has hosted over 300 livestreams and now has an AI avatar of himself, stresses that the same strategic logic applies to both AI and human hosting. PLTFRM offers fully-managed and hybrid livestream models, enabling brands to grow without the burden of technical complexities. A Full-Service, Hassle-Free Model 'We understand the pain points—low traffic, high operational costs, lack of talent, and poor ROI,' said CEO Qian Dejun. 'That's why PLTFRM AI is a worry-free, fully-managed solution. Brands can scale faster, lower costs, and increase exposure—without building an in-house team for livestream.' FAQ: PLTFRM AI Livestreaming Q: Which platforms does PLTFRM AI support? A: Currently live on Tmall, Taobao and Pinduoduo. Integration is also available for Dianping,Meituan, WeChat mini-program， and others. Q: What's included in the full-service package? A: Services include product listing, avatar customisation, scriptwriting, virtual studio setup, livestream operations, and ongoing optimisation. Q: How soon can livestreaming begin? A: Livestreams can go live within 30 days of onboarding. Q: Can AI hosts be used alongside human hosts? A: Yes. Many clients use human hosts during peak hours and AI hosts during off-peak times. Q: Can PLTFRM clone an existing human host as an AI avatar? A: Yes. Full AI cloning is available. Interested in AI Livestreaming for Your Brand? Contact PLTFRM AI. Social Links LinkedIn: Media Contact Company: PLTFRM Contact: Alexander Ouairy, Founder and Director Telephone: +86 (0)21 6232 6733 Email: info@ Website: , Address: Building 3, No. 733 Wanhangdu Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai 200042 SOURCE: PLTFRMError 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
South China Morning Post
16-07-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Chinese Olympic champion skier Eileen Gu back into training, enjoys ‘first-ever spa day'
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu is back in training and gearing up for her second Olympic cycle, following a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season that saw her miss February's Asian Winter Games in Harbin because of injury. The two-time Olympic champion posted a 45-second video on Weibo showcasing her gym routine. The clip ends with Gu performing a cork 720 with a Buick grab on a slope in Austria. In January, Gu was left badly bruised from a fall during the Winter X Games after winning gold in the Superpipe event. She then injured herself again in training while preparing for the World Cup. In March, she shared an image on Weibo with her arm in a sling and an X-ray appearing to show a broken collarbone. And with her time off, the US-born athlete has been taking time to recover both mentally and physically, going on what she called her 'first spa day ever'. Play 'I'd always thought of the need for recovery as indicative of lack – lack of fitness when it came to training volume, lack of mental resilience when it came to metabolising difficult emotions, lack of toughness when it came to taking hard hits,' Gu wrote on Instagram.
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India.com
10-07-2025
- General
- India.com
Guru Purnima 2025: Express Your Devotion And Gratitude With Traditional Shlokas That Honour The Wisdom Of Teachers And Gurus
Guru Purnima, celebrated on July 10th, 2025, is a day of immense spiritual and cultural significance in India. It is dedicated to honouring the Guru, the teacher, guide, or mentor who removes darkness (ignorance) and leads us to light (knowledge). Whether it's a spiritual master, a schoolteacher, or a life mentor, this day reminds us to pause, reflect, and express heartfelt gratitude. One of the most powerful ways to honor a teacher is through words steeped in tradition. Ancient Sanskrit shlokas carry profound meanings and emotions, perfectly capturing the respect and reverence owed to a Guru. Here are some timeless Shlokas you can share on Guru Purnima 2025 to pay the perfect tribute:- 1. Guru Brahma Shloka गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः। गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥ (The Guru is Brahma (the creator). The Guru is Vishnu (the preserver). The Guru is Maheshwara (Lord Shiva, the destroyer). The Guru is verily the Supreme Divine (Param Brahma). Salutations to that revered Guru) Meaning: The Guru is Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer). The Guru is the Supreme Being. I offer my salutations to such a revered Guru. Share this shloka to show deep reverence for a teacher who shapes every aspect of your life. 2. Acharya Devo Bhava आचार्य देवो भव। (The teacher is equivalent to God) Meaning: The teacher is equivalent to God. This powerful phrase reminds us to respect our teachers as divine figures guiding us toward wisdom and truth. 3. Shloka on the Importance of Education सा विद्या या विमुक्तये। (That is knowledge which liberates) Meaning: True knowledge is that which liberates. On Guru Purnima, celebrate those who have given you liberating knowledge—knowledge that enlightens and uplifts. 4. Shloka Honoring the Guru's Role गुरोः कृपां विना कोऽपि न पुमान् जीवन्मुक्तिमश्नुते। (Without the grace of the Guru no man attains liberation while living.) Meaning: Without the grace of the Guru, no one can attain liberation, even while living. Perfect for spiritual teachers or mentors who have had a life-changing impact. 5. Shloka on Guru's Light अन्धकारेण मोहितं जनं, ज्ञानदीपेन प्रबोधयन्। तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥ (Awakening people deluded by darkness with the lamp of knowledge. Obeisance to that Sri Guru.) Meaning: To the Guru who awakens people deluded by darkness with the lamp of knowledge—I bow to such a Guru. A beautiful tribute to teachers who helped you see clearly in times of confusion. How to Celebrate Guru Purnima 2025 Reach out to your teachers with heartfelt messages or handwritten notes. Recite or share these shlokas with your mentors, or post them on social media with a short dedication. Offer traditional puja or prayers in honor of your spiritual or academic Gurus. Reflect on the lessons you've learned and how they've helped shape your path. Guru Purnima is more than a celebration—it's a sacred reminder of the role our mentors play in our growth. In 2025, take a moment to recognize the Gurus in your life by sharing these meaningful shlokas. Let your gratitude echo through ancient verses that continue to inspire generations. This Guru Purnima, say it with a shloka—because some feelings are too deep for everyday words.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
First Lung Organoid with Organ-Specific Blood Vessels
Advanced lab-grown tissues help show how special lung cells develop, shedding light on rare ACDMPV disease and suggesting potential ways to repair damage from viral infections such as COVID-19 CINCINNATI, June 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of experts at Cincinnati Children's reports another powerful step forward in organoid medicine: success at making human lung tissue that can produce its own blood vessels. Their findings, published in the same month as a similar success involving liver organoids, reflect a new wave of advanced lab-grown tissues that can be used immediately in many research applications while moving ever closer to serving as living tissues that can directly repair damaged organs. Details were posted online June 30, 2025, in the journal Cell. "Prior to our study, the development of lung organoids with organotypic vasculature had not been achieved," says co-corresponding author Mingxia Gu, MD, PhD. "Notably, this method also could be applied to other organ systems such as intestine and colon." Gu, now at UCLA, was a member of the Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM) and Division of Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children's while this research was conducted. Co-first and co-corresponding author Yifei Miao, PhD, (now at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing) also was with Cincinnati Children's for this work. Co-corresponding author Minzhe Guo, PhD, remains with Cincinnati Children's along with several co-authors involved in this study. Overcoming a major challenge Researchers have been working for years to grow organoids -- sometimes called "organs in a dish." Creating organoids involves converting mature human cells (such as blood or tissue cells) back into fetal-like stem cells that can be coaxed into growing a wide range of other tissue types. Unlike disconnected human cells kept alive in a dish, these are growing, developing mini-organs that form into seed-sized spheres that mimic the unique functions of full-sized organs. Intestines that absorb and secrete. Stomachs that produce digestive acids. Hearts that pulse. Brain tissues with firing nerve cells and so on. Cincinnati Children's has been a leader in organoid development since 2010 when experts here produced the world's first functional intestinal organoid grown from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). More recently, the challenge has been learning how to grow organoid tissues that can connect with the rest of the body to integrate nerve connections, blood vessels, bile ducts, immune systems and more. During pregnancy, these differing tissue types naturally find each other as the fetus matures and becomes more complex. Organoid developers seek to re-produce these steps in the laboratory, which eventually may allow people to receive custom-grown tissues that could patch damage or boost disrupted functions. Simpler forms of organoids have already begun transforming medical research, allowing many scientists to use living human tissue models to study disease while reducing current reliance on animal models to develop new medicines. But without the ability to make internal blood vessels, the tiny seeds lack the ability to grow into larger, more useful tissues. How the team solved the vascular riddle The new study thoroughly recounts the results of many experiments the team conducted to demonstrate success at inducing blood vessel formation. The work spanned four years and involved more than 20 people at Cincinnati Children's plus collaborations with experts at several other organizations. "The challenge in vascularizing endodermal organs, particularly the lung, stems from different signaling requirements for lung epithelial versus vascular differentiation," says Miao. "Our success in this endeavor is attributable to our unique differentiation method." In essence, the team grew iPSCs from multiple cell types then found the right moment to introduce them to each other. The resulting cell signals helped flip a developmental switch so that progenitor cells that could have become either blood vessels or the outer walls of the lung wound up becoming blood vessels. In achieving this vital step, the team: Produced lung organoids that include respiratory bronchial epithelial cells (RAS cells), a human cell type not previously reported in conventional lung organoid models. Pinned down the developmental moments when a rudimentary gut tube begins to send some cells to form the lungs while sending other cells to form the stomach and intestine. While the basic steps of this transformation have been studied in animals, it had not been possible to study this stage of development in humans without killing fetuses. Demonstrated that the rare disease ACDMPV occurs when cell signaling "crosstalk" gets disrupted during this early blood vessel formation stage. Within days of birth, infants born with Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia with Misalignment of Pulmonary Veins (ACDMPV) struggle to breathe because their lungs' air sacs (alveoli) and blood vessels are malformed. Nearly all infants with this condition die within the first month of life, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Revealed key functional information about the cells involved in gas exchange inside the human lung. Their learnings help explain the damage within tiny blood capillaries that occurs in the lungs in response to injuries. These new clues offer fresh ideas for developing ways to protect and potentially restore affected lung tissues. What's Next? Cincinnati Children's has filed patent applications related to the methods developed here to produce organoids with blood vessel formation capabilities and the CuSTOM team is moving to further develop this technology. "We look forward to continuing to learn more about the fundamental biology involved in organ formation and applying those discoveries to improving outcomes across a wide range of difficult human diseases and conditions," says Aaron Zorn, PhD, co-director of CuSTOM and director of the Division of Developmental Biology. In addition to publishing these findings in Cell, co-authors plan to present their work at the Keystone conference in Kyoto, Japan (iPSCs: Progress, Opportunities, and Challenges) in January 2026. About the study Cincinnati Children's co-equal first authors were Miao, Nicole Pek, BS, and Cheng Tan, MD. Contributing co-authors from Cincinnati Children's were Cheng Jiang, MS, Zhiyun Yu, PhD, Kentaro Iwasawa, MD, PhD, Min Shi, MD, PhD, Daniel Kechele, PhD, Nambirajan Sundaram, PhD, Victor Pastrana-Gomez, MSTP student, Debora Sinner, PhD, Cheng-Lun Na, PhD, Keishi Kishimoto, PhD, Jason Tchieu, PhD, Jeffrey Whitsett, MD, Kyle McCracken, MD, PhD, Michael Helmrath, MD, James Wells, PhD, Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD, and Aaron Zorn, PhD. Contributing co-authors included experts from Harvard Medical School, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Sophia Children's Hospital (The Netherlands), Boston University This research also was supported by the Discover Together Biobank, the Bio-Imaging and Analysis Facility, and the Integrated Pathology Research Core at Cincinnati Children's and the University of Cincinnati Proteomics Laboratory. Funding sources for this work included: the National Institutes of Health (R01HL166283, DK128799-01, N01-75N92020C00005 and R01HL095993); an Endowed Scholar Award from the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation; the American Heart Association (1013861 and 906513); the Falk Transformational Awards Program; and the Brigham Research Institute. Learn more about working with CuSTOM Learn how donors can support ongoing organoid research at Cincinnati Children's View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Error 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
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Investors Lost $2.5B to Hacks and Scams in the First Half of 2025: Certik
Hackers stole more than $2.47 billion worth of cryptocurrency in the first half of 2025, already exceeding last year's total of $2.42 billion, according to Certik's Hack3d Report. The majority of that figure can be attributed to two incidents; the Bybit breach and the Cetus Protocol exploit that combined were worth $1.78 billion. Wallet compromise was the key attack vectors for hackers in the first half of this year, contributing to $1.7 billion worth of losses, while phishing was still rampant resulting in $410 million stolen across 132 incidents. Phishing is a technique hackers use to steal a victim's password or credentials in order to access an account. 'While the overall figures are alarming, it is important to point out that the majority of the funds lost in H1 were attributable to two concentrated, high-impact events,' said CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu. 'But regardless, the results serve as another reminder to the industry that there is still much work to be done,' Gu added. The report also found that $801 million was lost in Q2 alone, a 52% decrease from the previous quarter. The majority of hacks took place on Ethereum, with $1.5 billion stolen across 164 incidents, followed by Bitcoin with $373 million stolen across 10 incidents. Sign in to access your portfolio
