Kinling Lo

Alibaba reduced its head count by a third in 2025, while Baidu's workforce declined nearly 7%. “There's constant churn,” a Chinese tech worker said.

Recalling my visit to Thunder Tiger, a Taiwanese company building “non-China” drones for the U.S. military.

U.S.-China summit to likely cover AI rivalry, chip exports, supply chain security, and the EV trade as leaders navigate intensifying geopolitical tensions.

Foreign visitors are flocking to China’s factories and AI startups in search of the next technological breakthrough.

Former Hugging Face executive Tiezhen Wang explains how China's open-source strategy is reshaping the AI race.

China's consumer-tech brands keep gaining ground Kinling Lo is a reporter at Rest of World covering China. Getty Images

The trend is partially triggered by viral videos of China's dancing humanoid robots and flying cars.

Universities are dropping programs in translation and foreign languages while adding degrees in embodied intelligence, AI, and robotics.

As demand for elite AI engineers outpaces supply, companies are recruiting teenagers through camps, research programs, and guaranteed job pipelines.

New platforms are paying people to license their likeness for AI-generated dramas and ads, creating a new marketplace for biometric identity.