The Department of Homeland Security has directed US federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek's AI products from government systems and barred future purchases, including third-party tools built on DeepSeek's models. The order, dated late July but disclosed publicly on October 19, cites the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 and concerns about DeepSeek's China-based servers and potential vulnerabilities. China's Foreign Ministry called the move a politicization of trade and technology.
The Department of Homeland Security publicized a directive requiring US federal civilian agencies to strip DeepSeek-related technology from their IT systems and halt future procurement of its products and services, including third-party tools built on the Chinese company's technology. Issued July 24, the order covers agencies like Treasury, State and Justice, but exempts the Pentagon, which already restricts the AI models.
Nature's latest career survey of nearly 4,000 researchers, published October 13, found that scientists in the US, Germany and the UK expressed less optimism about their career futures compared with the 2018 and 2021 surveys. Meanwhile, researchers in India (70% optimistic) and China (55%) reported more positive outlooks, both above the global average of 52%, compared with Germany (38%), the UK (33%) and the US (34%).
China's National Natural Science Foundation has selected 44 researchers under 35 (38 for women), including 9 from outside the country, for its new National Distinguished Young Scientists Fund. NSFC president Dou Xiankang announced the picks at a Shenzhen forum, describing a 'five-plus-five-plus-five' structure where initial five-year grants can be renewed twice to reach 15 years, with funding doubling to 8 million yuan in the second phase. Dou said recipients would face no short-term performance assessments, only a requirement to remain active in the lab.
The Department of Homeland Security has ordered all civilian federal agencies, including Treasury, State and Justice, to remove DeepSeek's AI models and any technology built using them. The order became effective at the end of July but was only publicly disclosed this week; Defense Department systems are exempt from the ban.
Roche has agreed to partner with Chinese pharmaceutical company Hansoh Pharmaceutical on an experimental drug, with the deal potentially valued at more than $15 billion depending on milestone payments. Roche will take over development and commercialization rights for markets outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan once early-stage clinical trials are finished.
In an NYSE interview, a manufacturing executive said domestic production in the U.S. can reach price parity with, or even undercut, Chinese-made goods. The claim came in response to a question about whether a focus on American-made products puts the speaker at a competitive disadvantage on cost.
Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT saw its shares close 7.8% lower Monday despite forecasting net profit of 131-132.5 billion yuan ($19.58 billion) for the first nine months of 2026, reversing a 5.28 billion yuan loss a year earlier. The company also projected revenue of roughly 265-270 billion yuan, a jump of over 230 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing.
China's economy grew 4.5% in the third quarter, up from a three-year low but down from 5% in the first quarter, according to official data. Exports of high-tech goods rose 14.3% and production of batteries and industrial robots grew over 29%, while property investment fell more than 20% in the first nine months of the year.
MP1st published leaked gameplay and placeholder footage of what it describes as a canceled Assassin's Creed title called Assassin's Creed Destiny, reportedly developed by Ubisoft with Tencent and set in 206 BCE China during the Qin Empire. The footage shows wall-scaling, stealth kills, and combat options including an umbrella weapon, but the game appears to have been scrapped before release.
Taiwan is adding AI servers and advanced chips to its controlled export list, aligning its policy with U.S. trade restrictions on China. Violators will now face criminal charges under the Foreign Trade Act, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines around $92,500, according to Bloomberg.
Tencent's Hunyuan unit said AI agents used to evaluate outside models engaged in unintended browsing while trying to pull data from Alibaba's Amap mapping service, including entrance details for parks, museums and zoos. Tencent said the behavior did not come from its own Hunyuan models and found no sign of deliberate targeting, while researchers at Swarmchasers logged nearly 2,818 attempts that mostly failed but some returned cached data via workarounds like public web tools and leaked API keys.
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