GoKawiil
Tech News
U.S. security agencies have publicly accused six Chinese artificial intelligence companies of systematically using American AI models to train their own systems through a technique known as distillation. The practice allows a smaller model to learn from the outputs of a larger, more advanced one, effectively transferring capabilities without the original research investment.
Two children died in separate gene-editing clinical trials in China, prompting scrutiny from researchers, ethicists and legal scholars over how such studies are approved and monitored. Investigators say the trials involved ethical breaches that could carry lasting consequences for China's biomedical research sector.
Two children reportedly died after receiving gene-editing treatments in separate investigator-initiated trials (IITs) in China, drawing scrutiny to the country's rapid trial pathway. The deaths surfaced just months after Beijing introduced Order 818, a rule effective May 1 that tightens oversight of IITs, including restricting stem-cell and gene therapy trials to top-tier sanjia hospitals.
Belgian prosecutors detained a Chinese man in May as he prepared to fly to Beijing, alleging he had been passing sensitive chip-related technology to a company in China. The case is part of a broader investigation into suspected industrial espionage targeting Europe's semiconductor sector.
Days after the World Humanoid Robot Games concluded in China, the PLA's official newspaper urged researchers to speed the shift of humanoid robot technology from labs into military training. A Reuters review of over 100 Chinese procurement notices, patents, academic papers and defense-company documents found the country is actively researching combat applications for these machines and planning for eventual battlefield use alongside robot dogs and unmanned vehicles.
X reported identifying roughly 200 accounts tied to China that it says were amplifying anti-data center rhetoric on the platform, sparking coverage framing local opposition as foreign manipulation. President Trump quickly echoed the claim on Truth Social, suggesting China benefits from the backlash against US data center construction, even as public polling shows growing domestic opposition to these projects regardless of any outside influence.
A new U.S. Census Bureau report finds that people aged 65 and older now outnumber young children worldwide for the first time. The bureau projects the share of people 65 and up will nearly double from 10.5% in 2025 to 19.6% by 2060, driven largely by falling birth rates and longer lifespans. Global population is expected to grow from about 8 billion to 10 billion by 2060, with over half that growth coming from the elderly population.
Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau has pursued 166 investigations into companies illegally operated by Chinese owners disguised through shell firms or local nominees, resulting in at least 36 convictions since 2020. These businesses skirted Taiwan's Cross-Strait Act, which requires Chinese entities to obtain government permits before operating on the island, permits that are increasingly hard to secure amid rising cross-strait tensions.
The Trump administration's new tariffs took effect September 3, imposing rates as high as 100% on drones over 55 pounds, thermal-imaging models, docking stations, and critical parts like airframes and control boards. Smaller, less-capable drones and other components face a 25% rate, while allied nations such as the EU, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the UK get preferential rates of 10-15% if their supply chains are substantially domestic or American.
Jacob Stokes, a former Obama national security official now at the Center for a New American Security, published a report titled 'Superpowers and AGI' urging the US to prepare drastic responses if China reaches artificial general intelligence first. His proposed options range from cyberattacks to sabotage AI systems up to kinetic military strikes on physical data centers, which he acknowledges carries the highest risk of escalation.
Lululemon Athletica's stock fell more than 20% in premarket trading Friday after the company reported weaker-than-expected sales in China. The slowdown followed a viral controversy in May involving a promotional drum event that appears to have damaged the brand's standing with Chinese consumers. The stock is now down 42% year-to-date.
Chinese company Niutech has signed a contract with an unnamed global energy major to construct an industrial-scale pyrolysis facility that converts waste plastic into sustainable aviation fuel. The plant is designed to produce between 10,000 and 50,000 tons of SAF annually by heating plastic waste at high temperatures in an oxygen-free chamber.