A Chinese government propaganda app that recently became a huge hit was developed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), two people at the company told reporters, at a time when the nation’s tech firms are under global scrutiny over their ties to Beijing.
The name of the Xuexi Qiangguo (學習強國, “Study to make China strong”) app is a play on the government propaganda theme of applying Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) thought. It overtook Tik Tok (抖音) and WeChat (微信) to become the county’s most popular app on Apple’s app store there last week.
It was developed by a largely unknown special projects team at Alibaba known as the “Y Projects Business Unit,” which takes on development projects outside the company, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
New York-listed Alibaba declined to comment on whether the business unit had developed the app.
Beijing propaganda authorities released the app ahead of next month’s Chinese National People’s Congress in Beijing, the country’s top annual legislative gathering.
The app, which includes short videos, government news stories and quizzes, was created by an Alibaba team. Users of Alibaba’s own messaging app DingTalk (釘釘) can use their login credentials to log into Xuexi Qiangguo.
Alibaba said that the app was built using DingTalk’s software.
Staff at the Alibaba unit are responsible for developing and maintaining the app, which includes news, videos, livestream and community comments, according to the sources, as well as a job advertised for Xuexi Qiangguo on Alibaba’s career Web site.
The unit does not have a Web site, but is described in job ads on popular Chinese career Web site Zhipin.com (直聘) as a strategic-level project that is in a creation stage and offers many job opportunities.
At least part of the app’s runaway popularity can be attributed to directives issued by local governments and universities that require people in China’s expansive party member network to download the app.
The app has been downloaded more than 43.7 million times on Apple and Android devices since its launch last month, according to estimates by Beijing-based statistical consulting firm Qimai (七麥).
It was not immediately clear whether Alibaba makes money from the app, or who initiated its development.
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
FORECAST: The greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications has driven higher demand for advanced semiconductors worldwide, TSMC said The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May. The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment,
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
RSS