Biden signed the TikTok-related bill, and Zhou Shouzi responded: He will not leave and will resort to law
U.S. President Joe Biden officially signed a TikTok-related bill on April 24 local time, requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the next 9 months to 1 year, otherwise the app will be banned from the United States.
On April 25, TikTok issued a statement on the X platform: "This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court." We believe that the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and that in the end we will emerge victorious. In fact, we've invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and protect our platform from outside influence and manipulation. The ban will destroy 7 million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue to invest and innovate to ensure that TikTok remains a space where all people can safely share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired. 」
TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi then said, "We are confident and will continue to fight for your rights in court, the facts and the constitution are on our side...... Rest assured, we're not going anywhere. In a video posted on the platform, he lashed out at the bill and called on people to share stories of how TikTok has improved their lives. (Source: Phoenix Technology)
Sequoia Capital entered the game, and Musk's AI company was close to reaching a $6 billion funding round
On April 26, there was market news that Musk may be on the verge of receiving billions of dollars in funding to build his chatbot Grok into a fierce rival to ChatGPT.
Musk's startup xAI is raising $6 billion, valuing the company at $18 billion excluding the investment, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sequoia Capital is one of the investors involved in the xAI funding round, and another said it expects to close in the next two weeks, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. On the AI track, this round of financing is one of the largest single financings. (Source: Yicai)
Microsoft's third-quarter revenue was $61.858 billion, with net profit up 20% year-on-year
On April 26, Microsoft released the company's fiscal 2024 third-quarter earnings report. According to the report, Microsoft's revenue in the third fiscal quarter was $61.858 billion, an increase of 17% compared with $52.857 billion in the same period last year, and a year-on-year increase of 17% excluding the impact of exchange rate changes, and a net profit of $21.939 billion, an increase of 20% compared with a net profit of $18.299 billion in the same period last year, and a year-on-year increase of 20% excluding the impact of exchange rate changes.
Microsoft's fiscal third-quarter revenue and earnings per share beat Wall Street analysts' expectations, pushing its shares up more than 4% in after-hours trading. (Source: Sina Technology)
Google's parent company Alphabet reported $80.5 billion in first-quarter revenue, with net profit up 57% year-on-year
On April 26, Alphabet released the company's financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024, which ended on March 31. According to the report, Alphabet's total revenue in the first quarter was $80.539 billion, an increase of 15% compared with $69.787 billion in the same period last year, and a year-on-year increase of 16% excluding the impact of exchange rate changes.
On a GAAP basis, Alphabet's net income for the first quarter was $23,662 million, up 57% from $15,051 million in the year-ago quarter, and diluted earnings per share were $1.89, up from $1.17 in the year-ago quarter. (Source: Sina Technology)
Nvidia acquired two AI startups to make AI chips cheaper
On April 25, Nvidia announced a definitive agreement to acquire Run:AI. According to CTech, the deal is expected to be around $700 million. At the same time, Nvidia also acquired another Israeli AI company, Deci.
According to LinkedIn, Run:ai has about 150 employees and has raised $118 million, while Deci has about 100 employees and has raised $55 million. Nvidia's deal with Deci was not publicly disclosed, and the price is unknown.
According to The Information, the two startups, which were recently acquired by Nvidia, aim to reduce the cost of developing or running generative AI models and help customers use AI computing resources more efficiently, which in turn boosts demand for Nvidia's AI chips.
Over the past year and a half, demand for Nvidia's chips has skyrocketed with the AI boom, sending its revenue skyrocketing. But more and more companies are starting to feel burdened by the high cost of running AI models with the unbalanced returns. If Nvidia can help reduce the cost of running the model, more companies may be willing to place orders with Nvidia. (Source: Phoenix Technology)
Didi: The demand for taxis during the May Day holiday will rise by 35%, and more than 300 million yuan will be awarded to drivers
On April 25, Didi Chuxing predicted that on May Day this year, the demand for taxis is expected to increase by about 35% compared with before the holiday, of which the demand for long-distance travel has increased prominently, and the demand for taxis over 100 kilometers is expected to rise by 55%. Driven by multiple long-distance travel such as travel and returning home, going to large transportation hubs such as airports and railway stations will become the highest demand for cars during the May Day holiday, followed by the demand for leisure and entertainment taxis.
During the May Day period, the demand for ride-hailing in third- to fifth-tier cities increased most significantly, with an expected increase of about 50%. Weihai, Zibo, Qinhuangdao, Luoyang, Lishui and other tourist cities will once again usher in a large number of tourists on May Day.
During the holiday season, the number of bookings for hitchhiking with pets increased by 158% year-on-year. Weifang, Chongqing, Kunming, Linyi, Xuzhou and other places are popular destination cities for users to book holiday hitchhiking.
In order to pay tribute to the drivers who still stick to service and work hard during holidays, Didi will issue more than 300 million yuan in driver rewards, and for users, Didi will launch the "Fare Guard", which will intelligently intercept some abnormal fare orders and take the initiative to reduce or reduce abnormal fares when passengers encounter abnormal fare problems. (Source: Sina Technology)
Zuckerberg announced that the Threads platform has surpassed 150 million monthly active users
On April 25, Zuckerberg announced that Threads surpassed 150 million monthly active users during his Q1 2024 earnings call.
Zuckerberg announced in October that Threads had nearly 100 million monthly active users, representing an increase of 50 million monthly active users over a six-month period. In his statement, Zuckerberg said, "Threads is growing strongly, with over 150 million monthly active users, which is a trajectory I'm really happy to see. My daughters have been excited for a long time to welcome Taylor Swift to Threads."
According to the latest data released by Appfigures, the number of downloads of the Threads app on the iOS platform has been 3 times that of X in the past few weeks, and the number of downloads of Threads on the Google Play App Store has more than 2 times that of X in the past few weeks.
Zuckerberg previously reiterated Meta's goal of making Threads an "open conversation app with 1 billion users" and "more positive" than some of its competitors. According to Zuckerberg, Threads is moving toward that goal. (Source: IT House)
He Xiaopeng: Lei Jun's marketing is stronger than me, and my technology is better than him
On April 25, it was reported that Xiaopeng Motors held a press conference at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, and He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng Motors, said in an interview, "Mr. Lei's marketing ability is stronger than mine, but my technical ability is stronger than him." 」
Regarding the attention aroused after the release of Xiaomi SU7, He Xiaopeng said that he had a lot of communication with Lei Jun, "Mr. Lei's marketing ability is stronger than mine, but my technical ability is better than his. At the same time, He Xiaopeng also revealed that Xiaopeng Motors will continue to improve its marketing capabilities.
Regarding the current price war of car companies, He Xiaopeng believes that China's 2024-2027 is a knockout round, and the competition has been brutal in recent years, but it will soon stabilize. He also stressed that at present, gasoline vehicles are still profitable, while electric vehicles are not profitable. When the price of gasoline vehicles stabilizes, the price war will stabilize.
"If smart cars can achieve the same price as gasoline vehicles, and the profits of gasoline vehicles are reasonable, the industry will change dramatically. The penetration rate of new energy vehicles will increase from 50% to 90%. He Xiaopeng said. (Source: Fast Technology)
NIO and Lotus have reached a strategic cooperation on battery charging and swapping
On April 25, NIO announced that it has officially reached a strategic cooperation with Lotus for battery charging and swapping. The two parties will carry out all-round and multi-level in-depth strategic cooperation in the fields of battery standards, charging and swapping technology, battery asset management and operation, charging and swapping service network construction and operation, charging and swapping model research and development and customization, and charging interconnection involved in the charging and swapping industry. (Source: Sina Finance)
Alibaba Cloud announced that its self-developed EMO model will be launched on the Tongyi App, which uses photos + audio to generate singing videos
On April 25, Alibaba Cloud announced that EMO, an AI model developed by Tongyi Lab, was officially launched on the Tongyi App and is open to all users for free use. With this feature, users can choose any template from songs, memes, and memes, and then upload a portrait photo to have EMO synthesize an acting and singing video.
EMO is a framework developed by Alibaba Group's Institute of Intelligent Computing, an audio-powered AI portrait video generation system capable of generating expressive videos of facial expressions and various head poses by inputting a single reference image and voice audio.
According to reports, the first batch of more than 80 EMO templates on Tongyi App have been launched, including the hit songs "Shangchun Mountain" and "Wolf Disco", as well as the Internet hot memes "Bowl Chicken" and "Back to the Hand", etc., but at present, there is no custom audio not open. (Source: IT House)
China's first side-by-side door, B-pillar-free, swivel seat: ZEEKR's new model MIX was released
On April 25, the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show was held, and the new model MIX of ZEEKR was officially released. The car is built with the latest Haohan-M architecture of ZEEKR, and according to the official, the blessing of this architecture makes the cabin space utilization rate of ZEEKR MIX exceed 80%.
In terms of space, the car has a large axle-to-length ratio of 64% and an ultra-low threshold-free flat floor, a cabin width of more than 10%, a minimum turning radius of no more than 5 meters, and a front-wheel steering angle of more than 40%, which is 1.4 times that of conventional models.
The car also adopts the world's first hidden double B-pillar design, and the safety is made of 2000 megapascal ultra-high-strength hot-stamped steel and one-piece seamless steel columns, which are 33% stronger.
In addition, for the first time, the car is equipped with a bi-door design, with the world's largest door opening width of 1480 mm, the cabin floor height of 39 cm above the ground, and is equipped with super side armor, front double anti-collision armor, etc. In terms of cockpit, ZEEKR MIX is the world's first mass-produced car that supports electric rotation of the main and passenger seats. (Source: Fast Technology)
The Denza Z9GT was unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show: equipped with an intelligent driver assistance system with a maximum power of nearly 1,000 hp
On April 25, the 18th Beijing International Automobile Exhibition 2024 officially opened, and the DENZA Z9GT car was unveiled at the auto show, which is equipped with an intelligent driving assistance system and a maximum power of nearly 1,000 horsepower.
The Denza Z9GT is positioned as a D-segment sedan with a body size of 5180mm/1990mm/1500/1480mm and a wheelbase of 3125mm. In addition, the DENZA Z9GT offers a multi-lidar option and is equipped with the "Eye of the Gods" high-end intelligent driving assistance system, which has intelligent driving capabilities.
At the press conference of the auto show, Zhao Changjiang, chief co-creation officer of DENZA Auto, said that the DENZA Z9GT is equipped with the Yi Sanfang technology platform. It is reported that Yi Sanfang is based on the intelligent strategy of the whole vehicle, which can realize the technology platform of independent drive of three motors and original rear-wheel steering at the same time, taking into account pure electric and hybrid, and more perfectly integrating the three characteristics of agility, intelligence and safety. Thanks to this, the Denza Z9GT Elk test score exceeded 85km/h, with a maximum power of nearly 1,000 hp and an acceleration time of 2 seconds to 100 km/h.
It is reported that in the future, the Denza Z9GT will not only be sold in the Chinese market, but also enter the international market, and the overseas price may exceed one million. (Source: Phoenix Technology)
The fire-breathing robot dog Thermonator is available now, starting at $9420 a set
Last year, Ohio-based Throwflame unveiled its fire-breathing robot dog, the Thermonator, which hit the market on April 26 with a starting price of $9,420.
At the time of the pre-order launch, Throwflame's mobile pyrotechnic machine appeared to be built on Unitree's Go1 platform, but the production version bumped it up to the Go2. This means that the robot dog has 4D LiDAR sensing for drawing and obstacle avoidance, a 720p wide-angle front camera and headlights, an octa-core processing brain and AI intelligence, 4G/Wi-Fi6/Bluetooth connectivity, and a 15000mAh battery.
Throwflame, the oldest flamethrower manufacturer in the United States, mounts its ARC-type flamethrower on the back of a robot, which uses a plasma arc to ignite gasoline or gasoline/diesel fuel to shoot flames within 30 feet (10 meters) under laser aiming. In applications such as wildfire control and farm management, remote operation via a mobile app can avoid harm to personnel, but manufacturers also welcome inquiries from defense and government buyers.
As for the list price, the Unitree Go2 single-gun version starts at $1600 ($2800 for the professional version), while the ARC flamethrower starts at $699 (accessories like rails and triggers come at an additional cost). Add in a laser sight, a high-powered dome light, and more, and then pack all the parts into one package for a whopping $9420 per unit. (Source: cnBeta)