ADAspace Off and Running in Global Race for Orbital Computing
国星宇航（ADAspace）加速起跑，参与全球轨道计算竞赛
2026-02-02
| Wang Yabo, vice president of China commercial aerospace startup ADAspace, told a conference in China last week that the company's ambitious plan to develop a 2,800-satellite space computing network has successfully gotten underway with the deployment of several satellites using Alibaba's Qwen-3 large language model -- the world's first general purpose AI model to be operated in orbit. The system can process data and return it to Earth in two minutes or less. The first tests in space included so-called "real inference tasks" in contrast to passive benchmarking or post-mission analysis, indicating the system is integrated with onboard processors and satellite sub-systems to enable near-real-time data processing without relying on constant downlinks to ground stations. ADAspace said the technology will benefit self-driving vehicles, drones and robots across land, air and sea. Chinese firms are competing against Elon Musk, among others, in a global race to develop massive space-based, high-speed computing power using the cheaper costs of solar energy outside the Earth's atmosphere. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
伊朗警告称，若美国发动袭击，可能引发地区战争
2026-02-02
| Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that a US attack on his country would spark a regional war and Iran is not afraid of US scaremongering. US President Donald Trump, in response, said if Iran doesn't reach a nuclear agreement with the Washington, the world will soon see whether the warning is accurate. "Why wouldn't he say that? Of course, you can say that," Trump said. "But we have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world, over there, very close." The US military has moved an aircraft carrier and warships to the Middle East. Despite the harsh words, Trump earlier said both nations are in talks. The US wants to end what it says is Iran's nuclear weapons development and limit ballistic missile production. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and says its missile program is non-negotiable.
Separately, Iran said an explosion in an eight-story residential building that killed one person in its southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday was caused by a gas leak, easing anxieties of a US attack. The semi-official Tasnim news agency denied social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander had been targeted in the Bandar Abbas explosion. A separate gas explosion in the city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border killed four people, according to the Tehran Times. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
China's CSPC Signs AstraZeneca Deal Valued at Up to US$17.3 Billion
中国石药集团（CSPC）与阿斯利康签署协议，交易总额最高达 173 亿美元
2026-02-02
| UK pharma giant AstraZeneca said it will license experimental weight-loss drugs from China's CSPC Pharmaceutical and collaborate on other projects, paying a US$1.2 billion upfront fee and promising further payments of up US$17.3 billion if development and sales milestones are met. The newly licensed drug candidates include CSPC's SYH2082, a "clinical-ready" product, and three other pre-clinical products in its injectable weight-management portfolio. It's the largest deal to date for Hong Kong-listed CSPC, which is based in Hebei Province. AstraZeneca said investment in China's pharmaceutical sector are key to supporting the company's target of launching 20 new medicines by 2030. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
斯塔默与习近平强调友好关系，寻求共同利益领域
2026-01-30
| British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, said China is a "vital player on the global stage" and the UK is seeking a "more sophisticated relationship." In turn, Xi said engagement between both countries is "unavoidable" despite past "twists and turns" in bilateral relations. The two leaders announced they will work together to stop migrant-smuggling networks and will pursue mutual interests in areas such as green technologies, pharmaceuticals and education services. During the visit, British pharma giant AstraZeneca announced it will invest US$15 billion to expand medicine manufacturing, research and development. Starmer's visit to China is the first by a UK leader since 2018 and comes amid increasingly strained relations with the US, Britain's biggest trading partner and strategic ally. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
AI 将走向何方？抬头看向天空
2026-01-30
| China plans to launch space based AI data centers over the next five years, Reuters reported, citing Chinese mainland broadcaster CCTV. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp said it will "construct gigawatt-class space digital-intelligence infrastructure," according to a blueprint for the current Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The goal is a challenge to Elon Musk's SpaceX program, which has similar deployment plans. Musk earlier said celestial supercomputers will be significantly cheaper to operate because solar energy to generate them will be fivefold more powerful in space than on Earth. The orbital data centers will "integrate cloud, edge and terminal (device) capabilities" and achieve "deep integration of computing power, storage capacity and transmission bandwidth," the Chinese report said.
Separately, Musk's vision of data centers in space gained momentum amid indications that the US founder of Tesla plans to merge his SpaceX and xAI businesses, bringing rockets, Starlink satellites and the Grok AI chatbot under one roof, Reuters reported. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
AI 开发成本高得惊人
2026-01-30
| Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft are in talks to invest up to US$60 billion in OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, according to The Information, a US technology-focused business publication. Nvidia, an existing investor, is looking at investing US$30 billion. Microsoft, another longtime backer, is considering US$10 billion, and Amazon would join the club with up to U$20 billion. The report came a day after Japan's SoftBank investment giant was said to be considering an increased investment of US$30 billion in OpenAI, after pouring US$41 billion into the company in December. AI technology development is very costly, depending on ever increasing rounds of enormous investment, often entwining major players in the industry. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
“点石成金”效应引发上海、香港淘金热
2026-01-29
| Shanghai and Hong Kong residents are pouring into gold shops this week to buy the precious metal as the global price touched a record US$5,4000 an ounce on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The buyers are betting that gold prices will continue to rise, after a 65 percent surge in 2025. Gold is considered a safe harbor in times of uncertainty. On the flip side, some consumers are selling some of the gold they hold to cash in on high prices. French bank Societe Generale predicted this week that gold will hit US$6,000 by the end of this year.
Major gold retailers, including Lao Feng Xiang Jewelry, Lao Miao Gold and Chow Tai Fook, have raised their prices. Shanghai gold seller Zhao Jinhao, who works at a jewelry mall, told Reuters, "There are still quite a lot of people buying, and it's still heading upwards." In Hong Kong, Simon Littmann, the executive manager of Swiss Investors Corp, which trades in precious metals, said business this month is the best in 20 years. Central banks are also big buyers. Last year, the People's Bank of China reported additions of bullion to its reserves every month. China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of gold. Shares in gold miners rose in trading on Wednesday. Zijin Mining, China's largest gold miner, surged 3.1 percent in Hong Kong. |
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| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
中国批准首批英伟达 H200 芯片进口
2026-01-29
| China has approved the first batch of imported Nvidia H200 AI chips, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The approval, which comes the same week as a visit to China by Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, covers 400,000 of Nvidia's second-most advanced chips to be delivered to Chinese internet giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent. Each chip costs at least about US$30,000. The US late last year removed restrictions on exports of H200s to China despite reservations about sharing its advanced technology with China. There have been some concerns that China wouldn't welcome the chips, given its drive to develop self-reliance in chipmaking and end dependence on foreign suppliers. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
美联储维持利率不变
2026-01-29
| The US Federal Reserve held rates steady on Wednesday, defying President Donald Trump's consistent pressure to lower them. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters after the decision was announced that he remains committed to an independent central bank. Earlier this month he revealed that he is under investigation by the Justice Department related to a major renovation of Fed headquarters in Washington, calling the probe an effort to intimidate him. Powell, whose term as chairman ends in May, had this advice for his successor, "Stay out of elected politics." | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
英国首相抵达北京，贸易议题居于首位
2026-01-28
| UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer begins a three-day visit to China today aimed at resetting bilateral trade ties. He will be seeking, like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carnery in a trip to China a week earlier, to diversify from the US market, the nation's largest trading partner, amid tensions with the Trump administration. However, Starmer told Bloomberg News before he left London that it's not a matter of being forced to choose between the US or China, saying he will maintain close ties with the US on security and defense but "sticking your head in the sand and ignoring China ... wouldn't be sensible." The Chinese newspaper Global Times on Monday touted Beijing's credentials as a reliable trading partner because China advocates a free, multilateral trade system. China is Britain's fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade last year valued at about US$141 billion. However, China accounts for only about 0.2 percent of direct foreign investment in the UK, a figure Starmer will be hoping to increase. He's the first British leader to visit the Chinese mainland in eight years. | |
| 来源: Shanghai Daily |
