We tried out Nio’s new ES8! The upgrade increases the vehicle’s NEDC range from 355 to 425 kilometres.
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Unlike general funds that invest in various industries, Baidu Ventures is a $500 million independent venture fund focused only on artificial intelligence investments. Vice-president Felix Fang recently told TechNode that this focus has helped the firm to gain strong experience in the field.
As vice-president, Fang is responsible for AI investments and how the technology can empower and transform traditional industry. He told TechNode that Chinese AI first took root in the security and surveillance market because of government policy. High importance is attached to the sector as it can save lives, he added. In fact, China’s four leading AI companies—Sensetime, Megvii, Yitu and Cloudwalk—are all present in this field.
Fang said that in the future, AI technologies would expand to other fields gradually dependent on the basic datasets available and the digitization of different industries.
“For example, AI in the medical, retail and industry fields will develop incrementally because the ability for commercialization will not be as strong and its uses will be less widespread,” he said. “But we do think these industries represent potential markets for future AI applications and will have better development prospects in the future.”
Fang believes that there is a valuation bubble in terms of AI investment. He cites the lack of talent in the sector as a key reason. While funds are abundant in the market, companies will pay more when choosing investment targets, thus further inflating the value of the AI industry.
“So, I think we have to go back to the value of the investment itself,” Fang said. “We should consider a firm’s valuation from a more quantitative perspective, rather than over-scoring some projects that come with a lot of hype.”
As an investor, Fang said they could provide help in several ways. The first is to provide crucial talents for early-stage companies. Secondly, the VC can provide industry partners to help them better understand the real application scenarios, and thirdly, it can help with ideas on how to bring a product to market.
Fang contends that entrepreneurs often overlook pain points associated with doing business in the real world. He suggests they remember to carry out enough market research before pushing ahead with commercialization efforts, which can help them to know the actual drawbacks of their plans.
“We also need to have a clear road map on how to grow into a $1 billion or $2 billion unicorn,” he said. “It’s a process that requires constant adjustment throughout the whole entrepreneurship.”
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The year 2018 may seem a little late to join the robotics market. However, Alex Wu, co-founder and CEO of Tiger Technology, believes it could help him better understand what the sector really needs.
“The service robot market is highly competitive and there aren’t any major players that are operating in the sector,” Wu said. “Entering this market late is not a disadvantage to us; it helps us understand what kind of application scenarios are doable.”
Wu described current service robots as “moving iPads,” a computer with a mobile chassis. He believes a robot should not only be able to feel and communicate but should also perform tasks like a human.
“Service robots on the market now are more like computers which sit on autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs),” Wu said. AGVs are found in warehouses and typically follow lines or markers on the floor in order to navigate. “When I see that I don’t think it can be called a robot,” he said.
iKudo is Tiger Technology’s two-wheel collaborative robot and is equipped with a flexible robotic arm. It can provide multiple services for consumers. Wu said the robot could be responsible for the last 100 meters of door-to-door deliveries in large communities. The company is also planning to target in-home elderly care in the future.
Wu told TechNode that the robotic arm on iKudo doesn’t need to be as accurate as its industrial cousins. By reducing the accuracy, Tiger Technology can cut the cost of the arms and increase the amount of goods they can carry. Moreover, the company is focused on how to make the arm safer for consumers’ everyday use.
“The main feature of our robotic arm is safety,” Wu said. When pressure from iKudo’s arm exceeds a safe level it is programmed to stop immediately, he claims.
In the future, Wu hopes to build a cloud system for all service robots that will help them collaborate. He said with the help of 5G, service robots would be able to do more advanced calculations and help people in a wider range of scenarios.
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Prior to joining GGV Capital, Chao Luo was the co-founder and CSO of Laiye, an AI platform offering intelligent assistants to consumers and enterprises. After experiencing the dual roles of both an entrepreneur and an investor, Luo described the two as a revolving door, meaning you need to gain perspectives on both sides.
“Now I define myself as a venture capitalist,” he said. “To me, it is not like a real transformation but more like I’m learning different things at different stages.”
Luo is now vice president at GGV, a global venture capital firm with $6.2 billion in funds that invests in entrepreneurs in the US, Asia and other emerging economies.
In January, Chinese authorities called for the formulation of a relatively complete top-level design for an industrial internet network by 2020. According to a report by bg.qianzhan.com, the average annual compound growth rate of China’s industrial internet in the next five years is about 13% with its value hitting RMB 1 trillion in 2023.
Luo told TechNode that he believed tech companies who can empower the secondary industry will form a new force, which is also what he is focused on now.
“In fact, there are many pain points within the industry area,” he said. “A large number of devices used in industrial scenarios are yet to be digitized. From meter devices to industrial operating systems, the majority of them are still operating offline.”
A lack of digitization in industrial sectors causes two main problems: The first is operational issues and the second is maintenance, which all require a lot of manual work. However, by introducing useful IoT devices, coupled with background data analysis capabilities, Luo expects 90% of these scenarios to no longer need people in the long term.
The market is full of opportunities, along with challenges because platforms should be able to deal with different types of devices, models, and API interfaces. This requires that those who want to work in industrial internet have more patience and are okay doing the dirty work needed before products can roll out.
Black Lake Technologies, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides digital applications for manufacturers, is a successful GGV investment. The company has already empowered many traditional manufacturing companies with its cloud-based data collaboration and analysis tools. In the future, Luo contends that companies with a strong combination of software and hardware will be more competitive and prepared for long-term survival.
He explained that by combining software and hardware services, the company could increase the value generated for customers and also boost their stickiness so that the relocation costs for customers will be relatively high. “Only by developing the hardware can the data be digitized,” he said. “If the company only provides software, it’s very possible for customers to find a replacement.”
When asked about how to intelligize one specific industry, Luo said there are three key factors. The first is to build an infrastructure for digitization, the second is to have robust data analysis and processing capabilities and the third is to have the ability to facilitate the application, which requires a team with multi-talented individuals.
“We’re seeing lots of excellent teams that are not just made up of PhDs but more mixed teams with all kinds of talents,” Luo said. “And teams like this will have a better chance to succeed.”
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In China’s increasingly convenience-focused economy, venture capital investor Linda Li says a more efficient healthcare is on the horizon.
“It’s hard to imagine that in this day and age we can so easily use Meituan [food delivery app] to order lunch, but still have to wait for five hours at the hospital to see a specialist,” said Li, managing director and partner at Vickers Venture Partners in Shanghai. “I think e-health is the next step.”
Li is responsible for the firm’s investment business in China and focuses on consumer internet, mobile applications, financial services and precision medicine.
Vickers invests in China, the United States, and Southeast Asia, and believes that new technology and business models can be transferred from one area to another. The company has offices in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and New York, according to its website.
In the past, Li says, those ideas have flowed from the US to China and then to Southeast Asia, but in today’s e-health industry, there has been a reversal. Chinese ideas are spreading.
Li said when it comes to e-health China and the US each has their own strengths. “The US may be slightly better than China in terms of innovation, but China is better than the US in optimizing service technology,” she said.
Some say China’s next hurdle is to standardize health data, but Li doesn’t believe this is the best approach. She believes an influx of new, third-party companies, that provide health services will bring more competition, more modes of collecting data, and ultimately, better services for Chinese consumers.
“I am really optimistic about these third party companies,” Li said. “They are really able to collect data for consumers who are willing to pay.”
Li believes a successful e-health company requires strengths in four areas: online services, mobility, doctor relations and multiple patient services.
Li joined Vickers in 2005 and has grown up alongside the firm’s investments. “2005 was a booming time in China’s VC history,” Li said. “I joined in this industry at the right time.” In her experience, she’s found that the biggest industry breakthroughs come from outsiders.
“The [healthcare] industry hasn’t done very well for many years,” she said. “So why don’t allow people to use another way to solve the problem?”
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Following on from the recent FaceApp Challenge craze, another deepfake app Zao has gone viral in China. It rocketed to the top of the iOS App Store in China within 48 hours of its release at the end of last month. However, like FaceApp, Zao quickly attracted scrutiny over potential privacy leaks.
Zao is a face-swapping app that uses deepfake technology to let users change their faces with celebrities in a mere 10 seconds with just one photo needed. The app is designed just for entertainment, but it soon received a backlash on social media due to its user agreement.
The original agreement allowed Zao “free, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, and re-licensable rights” to all user-generated content as well as full copyright and ownership, triggering widespread debate on whether the clause violates users’ data privacy. While Zao moved swiftly to change the fine print, the damage was already done. The app was bombarded with thousands of negative reviews, and its average rating stands at 1.5 out of 5 in the App Store.
With the rise of digital payment as well as facial recognition payment, faces have become just a crucial part of a user’s data makeup.
“In fact, nowadays people’s faces also represent a symbol of authority, it is not just about a look anymore,” Stella Huang, a college student in Shanghai, told TechNode. “So I feel that there is indeed a risk,” she added.
It only takes five seconds to swap your face with Leonardo DiCaprio using deepfake technology, an artificial intelligence-based human image synthesis technique. It started trending in 2017 after a Reddit user named “deepfakes” uploaded a series of self-made face-swapping videos and since then it has become a controversial technology due to ethical risks.
“Deepfake technology is not very mature now, so it’s easy to recognize the differences between the real thing,” said another student Shen Shiyu. “But when this technology does mature, does that mean some original videos and information will be replaced and we won’t be able to figure out what’s real?”
The unexpected Zao fad laid bare the problems of personal information protection in China. College student Wang Yunjuan told TechNode that she had turned off her fingerprint and face recognition payment because of concerns over personal information leaks. “All the information links together,” she said.
“I do worry about my privacy,” Huang said. “Because no one cares about my data when I’m a nobody. But if people think they can make money from my information, it makes me worry about the security of my data.”
Most interviewees expressed the need for more regulations to protect personal information. “The law has not kept up with the development of the internet,” said Yin Yan, a student in Shanghai.
“Even if you are intentionally protecting your personal information, there is still a chance that it might leak. So I will always have a sense of fear,” said Tony Wang, another local student.
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More than 364,000 people descended on Shanghai last week to attend the four-day ChinaJoy event, one of Asia’s largest annual digital entertainment and gaming expos. Visitor numbers have grown eightfold since it started in 2004.
Despite the record-high visitor figures, ChinaJoy saw a fall in gaming companies on show at the convention this year. The country’s gaming sector is still in recovery mode after a year-long freeze on new licenses that only ended earlier in 2019.
For a lot of ACG fans, however, ChinaJoy represents one of the few reasons to leave the house this summer. One attendee dressed as Roadhog from Overwatch told TechNode reporters that he was here just to see check out what Blizzard, the game’s developer, was going to display.
“I’ve been playing Overwatch since it first came out in 2015,” he said. “I’m here to see if Blizzard’s booth has a Roadhog figure so I can buy one.”
ACG, short for “Anime, Comic, and Games,” is being embraced by more and more young people in China. For one female interviewee, it was her seventh time visiting ChinaJoy, and she still gets excited walking through the different halls.
“It’s like entering a 2D world in a 3D space,” she said. “I feel relaxed and far from the pressure of work and life.”
For those not so familiar with ACG culture, ChinaJoy is most famous for two things—showgirls and “zhainan.” The expo garnered a negative reputation over the years for using scantily clad girls to bring in more male attendees. Things changed in 2015 when the convention organizers rolled out strict regulations on their attire, and those dressed inappropriately faced fines.
The term “zhainan” derives from the Japanese phrase “otaku” (御宅男), literally meaning “house male.” It refers to a guy whose favorite thing to do is to stay at home and watch or play ACG content. They are usually often seen as lacking in social skills, and they choose to immerse themselves in the world of ACG. However, as one eventgoer quipped, they can be the ”backbone of the country“ as long as there’s such a massive market for them.
“It used to be a niche group, but I think that with the presence of more and more exhibitors, you can see that the audience is growing,” she said.
Not all of this year’s visitors came away impressed. One World of Tanks fan spent a whole year creating a huge paperboard tank like the ones from the game to wear on his head at the event. He arrived at the expo only to be told by organizers that he couldn’t wear it inside because there were too many people.
“We wanted to see the World of Tanks booth but the game publisher Kongzhong didn’t attend,” he said. “We have to just let it go.”
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Chinese workers are responding to Github protests over China’s grueling “996” work schedule, with many expressing wariness about whether the protest can change China’s long-lasting overtime work culture.
Last month, an anonymous post on Github—a software resource website—urged workers to rally against forced “996” schedules, shorthand for working overtime from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days each week. The post called out companies that enforce a 996 work schedule and urged all developers to license their projects as “Anti 996,” in an effort to limit the software that so-called “anti-labor” companies are allowed to use.
Proponents of 996 work culture argue that China’s technology industry is fast-paced and competitive, and overtime work is an unavoidable necessity. Many tech workers in Shanghai, however, argued the opposite.
Xia Rongrong, a brand consultant at an advertising firm, said that 996 could reduce productivity in the long term. “When you are working, you’re doing it with an attitude,” she said. “The complaints on the internet right now came about because we’ve had this situation for a long time, which just demonstrates that people haven’t been working the 996 schedule willingly. They just wanted to keep their jobs, so they continued to let it happen.”
At some Chinese companies, overtime work is obligatory but not officially so.
“My boss likes to see us working overtime,” said Michelle Lu, an HR employee at a real estate company. “Sometimes I can leave at 6 p.m. but nobody in the office will go home until my boss says we can.”
Most workers who spoke with TechNode believe that a 996 work schedule goes against Chinese labor laws. When asked, however, whether they would take legal action to protect their own labor rights, many said they would prefer to simply change jobs.
Among those who were wary about a legal fight was Wang Xin, a former IT employee. He explained, “I don’t really know much about the laws.”
Likewise, many were dubious about the efficacy of an online protest. Wayne Wu, an engineer in Shanghai, said he’s seen action like this before and is not optimistic about the outcome.
“A group of people won’t be able to successfully resist,” he said. “There have been many protests before. They lasted half a year. Three or four months will go by and then you’ll no longer hear a sound.”
