Just in time for the holiday season, Google Shopping is launching an AI-powered personalized feed that recommends items customers might like. The redesign is coming to desktop and mobile devices in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Suggested items are based on search and YouTube histories as well as AI inference. Shoppers will get “an AI-generated brief with top things to consider” in finding the right item, plus a curated feed of products. For now, the brief will be labeled “experimental,” and Google is encouraging feedback for the times AI doesn’t get it 100 percent right. Continue reading Google Shopping Redesigned with Gemini Feed, Infinite Scroll

Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group is restructuring its C-suite. Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang announced that on September 10 he will step down to be replaced by Eddie Yongming Wu as CEO and Joe Tsai as chairman. Zhang will continue to run Alibaba’s cloud computing division for now, which the company plans to spin off in an IPO. Tsai is currently Alibaba’s executive vice chairman (and owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and Wu is chairman of Alibaba’s Taobao Tmall Commerce Group. Wu will maintain his role with the e-commerce interests along with his new duties at Alibaba, where he will also replace Zhang on the company’s board of directors. Continue reading Alibaba Announces a Major Overhaul to Its Top Management

SoftBank-owned Alibaba Group — with headquarters in Hangzhou, China — plans to split into six independent companies that may seek separate IPOs, the company announced as Chinese authorities appear to be winding down a regulatory clampdown on the country’s powerful technology sector. The business empire assembled around e-commerce by industrialist Jack Ma these past 20 years was at its peak valued at more than $800 billion but is now assessed at about one-fourth that amount. The company’s stock soared on the news adding about $32 billion in global value, a rising tide that also lifted competitors’ boats. Continue reading Alibaba to Split into Six New Companies with Potential IPOs

Tencent’s nearly two-decade growth trajectory came to a halt Wednesday with a 3 percent revenue drop over the same period in 2021. The contraction marked the Chinese video game and social media giant’s first quarterly revenue decline since going public in 2004. Tencent’s April-June revenue fell by about $20 billion, the result of China’s slowing economy and sagging digital advertising revenue, as well as tighter government video game regulations and diminished consumer user spending. Prior to Q4 2021, Tencent had consistently posted double-digit — and sometimes triple-digit — growth since its IPO. Continue reading Tencent Revenue Drops 3 Percent in First Decline Since 2004

Chinese tech and entertainment conglomerate Tencent Holdings posted a 23 percent first quarter profit decline on earnings that inched up only 0.1 percent, its worst results since publicly listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. China’s COVID-19 resurgence and the ensuing regulatory crackdown of the past year were cited as factors. The world’s largest video game developer said that it is refocusing on quality product as Beijing telegraphs it will limit the number of titles release in the coming months. Authorities suspended video game licenses and put time restrictions on game streaming in an effort to protect the nation’s youth. Continue reading Tencent Reports a Significant Profit Decline on Flat Revenues

Startups enjoyed record venture capital funding last year, raising $621 billion globally and seeding several new tech hubs around the world, although Silicon Valley remains ground zero, according to research firm CB Insights. The U.S. accounted for roughly half of the funding raised globally, with stateside startups raising roughly $311 billion. Bootstrappers in Silicon Valley and New York retained the leading positions in terms of most money raised and number of deals completed, says CBI. Early-stage funding accounted for 63 percent of Philadelphia’s startup deals. Los Angeles and Dallas also grew early stage numbers, to 62 and 55 percent respectively. Continue reading Global Startups Raised $621 Billion in 2021, Breaking Record

China is furthering its protectionist goals by accelerating a plan to replace non-native technology with local suppliers. Reports surfaced this week that Beijing’s Information Technology Application Innovation Working Committee (ITAIWC) will be vetting and approving everything from cloud services to semiconductors for sensitive sectors like banking and government data centers, a market projected to be worth $125 billion by 2025. The secretive, government-backed committee formed under Xi Jinping in 2016 will also have a decisive role in setting industry standards and training personnel to operate approved hardware and software. Continue reading Chinese Committee Is Drafting Plans to Replace Foreign Tech

China passed the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) for data privacy, to take effect November 1 of this year. The law is similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and includes a requirement for organizations and individuals to minimize data collection of Chinese citizen’s personal data and obtain prior consent. Unlike the GDPR, however, the Chinese law is not expected to limit state surveillance or access to such data, though it could apply to lower-level government agencies. Continue reading China’s New Data Privacy Law Targets Big Tech Companies

Privately-held startup ByteDance, owner of TikTok, reported that its revenue more than doubled to $34.3 billion last year, rising 111 percent from a year ago while gross profit rose 93 percent to $19 billion. As of December 2020, ByteDance — which also runs Douyin, the domestic Chinese version of TikTok, and Jinri Toutiao, a news aggregation app — had about 1.9 billion monthly active users on all its platforms. Due to share-based compensation to workers, the company had a $2.1 billion operating loss last year. Continue reading ByteDance Revenue, Profit Leap in 2020 But No IPO in Sight

Google has inked an eight-year deal with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications that could exceed $1 billion. Univision chief executive Wade Davis said Google’s offer of benefits on its YouTube video platform and advertising and search services helped close the deal. Microsoft and Amazon have also bundled products in cloud computing deals and lawmakers have expressed concern over the tactic. Google currently faces antitrust suits filed by the Justice Department and several states. Continue reading Univision Selects Google for Bundled Cloud Computing Deal

China has a five-year plan to dominate the semiconductor industry by building up the domestic industry while fending off U.S. blacklists. The details of the plan won’t be released for a long time, but clues have been dropped by government officials, think tanks and official publications. Over the next five years, China plans to make do with existing semiconductors while it focuses on third generation chipmaking, a nascent field that no one yet dominates, by creating local companies for relevant software and hardware. Continue reading China’s Five-Year Plan to Build Domestic Chip Manufacturing

In light of the U.S. ban on selling chips and chipmaking technology to China, that country has raised $38 billion so far this year with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, that number — achieved through public offerings, private placements and asset sales — is “more than double” the total raised in 2019. Corporate registration tracker Tianyancha stated that 50,000+ Chinese businesses related to semiconductors registered this year, four times the total five years ago. Meanwhile, Seoul-based Samsung is investing heavily in its own next-generation chip business, ramping up competition in the semiconductor sector. Continue reading Global Competition Ramps Up in the Semiconductor Industry

On China’s Singles Day, Alibaba Group reported it earned a record $75.1 billion this year, in part by extending the buying window to eleven days. This year, however, Alibaba, founded by Jack Ma, is under increasing pressure from regulators who suspended the dual IPOs of Alibaba’s Ant Group. Since then, according to Refinitiv data, the company’s shares on the New York market have dropped 16 percent, erasing $137 billion from its market value. Alibaba and JD.com said the U.S. was the top seller of goods to China. Continue reading Alibaba, JD.com Set Record Earnings for China’s Singles Day

China put a halt to Ant Group’s two initial public offerings, leaving investors, employees and shareholders in a state of shock. The IPOs, described as “heavily oversubscribed,” was expected to raise at least $334.4 billion. The first inkling that things were going off the rails came Wednesday when some investors were informed their orders were canceled and monies would be refunded. The Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended the scheduled November 5 IPO, saying Ant might not be in compliance with new fintech regulations. Continue reading Chinese Regulators Suspend Ant IPO, Legislate New Hurdles

After launching only six months ago, Quibi is shuttering its doors. According to sources, Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg called investors to give them the news. As a startup, Quibi raised $1.75 billion but, since its debut, failed to sign up subscribers, garnered low download numbers and faced a well-funded lawsuit from interactive video company Eko, which claimed credit for its video streaming technology. Quibi also contended with the coronavirus pandemic while promoting a mobile platform. Katzenberg envisioned Quibi as “quick bites” of 5- to 10-minute videos formatted for the mobile screen. Continue reading Quibi Shutters Video Platform That Targeted Mobile Viewers