Applied AI

Monday, October 26, 2026

APPLIED AIBIG TECH
ByteDance Folds AI Short-Drama App Xiaoyunque Into Its Jimeng Platform
Xiaoyunque keeps its own entry point and product team, but its operations now report to Chen Xinran, who runs operations and marketing at Jimeng.
APPLIED AIROBOTICS
Swancor’s Qiyuan Robotics Builds Its 5,000th Personal Robot Five Weeks Into Sales
The AGIBOT-controlled unit now finishes one Q1 or T1 robot every 2.5 minutes, lifting daily output from just over 10 units to more than 200.

APPLIED AIPOLICY
Shanghai Plan Targets 85% AI Use in Industrial Services by 2028
The city’s economy commission also aims for 10 AI-native unicorns and offers grants of up to RMB20 million for design, inspection and maintenance tools.

APPLIED AIGEOPOLITICS
Microsoft Ties China-Linked Hackers Using AI Agent Tool ARTEX to ConnectWise Breach
Storm-0940 used stolen ConnectWise app identities to try more than 2,250 Microsoft 365 tenants, at up to 2,900 sign-in attempts per minute.
APPLIED AIPOLICY
MIIT-Led Five-Year Plan Calls for AI-Native Basic Products Across China’s Industrial Base
Eight agencies set 22 tasks in seven areas to bring China’s components, materials and basic software to an internationally advanced level by 2030.
APPLIED AI
Geely-Linked Qianli Technology Says Its Driver Assistance Is Now in 1 Million Cars
Chairman Yin Qi told a Chongqing AI conference that the Qianli Haohan system reached the mark in 18 months across 16 models, with 93.9% of buyers activating it.

APPLIED AIBIG TECH
ByteDance’s Doubao Phone Agent Blocks Itself From Banking and Payment Apps
A week after 155 apps refused its screen automation, Doubao now restricts itself in banking, trust, payment, internet-finance and lending apps.
APPLIED AIBIG TECH
Tencent’s WorkBuddy Leads China’s AI Office Market With 32 Million Monthly Users
QuestMobile puts September monthly users of China’s AI office tools at 142 million, with Baidu’s Dazi second at 9.77 million and Alibaba’s Qwen Office third.

APPLIED AIPOLICY
MIIT Drafts New Smart-Manufacturing Policy to Push AI Agents Into China’s Factories
The ministry will validate factory AI agents for scheduling, defect detection and maintenance one by one; China has over 13,000 advanced-level smart factories.
APPLIED AI
Chery Sets 2030 Goal of 100,000 Robotaxis and Launches CheryMind Physical-AI Model
At its Wuhu conference the carmaker also showed Ziwei chips and a home humanoid robot, after spending more than RMB110 billion on R&D in five years.
APPLIED AI
METiS TechBio Signs AI Drug-Delivery Deal With Eli Lilly Worth up to US$1.1 Billion
Lilly will use the Beijing company’s AI-designed lipid nanoparticles to steer RNA medicines to chosen tissues, for an upfront fee in the low tens of millions.
APPLIED AIFUNDING
China’s Driverless Mining-Truck Maker Tage iDriver Raises Nearly RMB300 Million Ahead of IPO
The Beihang University spin-off filed to list in Hong Kong in May after 2025 revenue more than tripled to RMB527 million and losses narrowed to RMB164 million.

APPLIED AIPOLICY
China’s Commerce Ministry Leads Nine-Agency Plan to Put AI Across Retail and Logistics
Eighteen measures name commercial AI agents, embodied AI and brain-computer interfaces, with the central bank and cyberspace regulator among the signatories.

APPLIED AIPOLICY
China’s AI Plus campaign shifts to scaling as nearly half of uses stall
Li Qiang’s cabinet put pilot validation and computing-power and electricity coordination on its AI agenda after MIIT listed 1,000-plus factory AI scenarios.
APPLIED AISOCIETY
Tencent’s WeChat Channels bans seller that cloned actor Wu Yue with AI
The skincare account 花姐美肤日记 used a synthetic face and voice of the actor, plus a fake Deng Yaping, and its videos already carried an AI label.
APPLIED AISOCIETY
China’s AI ad makers churn out fake endorsements for a few hundred yuan
A planner told a Beijing Daily outlet that one operator can make dozens of ad videos in an evening, while a 60-second shoot costs at least RMB10,000.

APPLIED AI
Agricultural Bank of China ties Kimi membership to card spending
ABC’s fourth-quarter promotion offers eligible first-time holders two KIMI Pro monthly cards after RMB5,888 in qualifying spending.
APPLIED AI
China Meteorological Administration advances Fengqing AI ensemble toward service
Fengqing Ensemble V1.0 cleared an operational review after independent tests produced an 11-day range for a key global forecast measure.
APPLIED AIPOLICY
China’s TCM plan makes AI part of its health agenda
The five-year blueprint calls for high-quality TCM AI data sets, smart hospitals and diagnostic-assistance tools for grassroots providers.

FUNDINGAPPLIED AI
Zhuge Robot’s Pre-A Puts AI LOOK Beyond the Demo Floor
Shandong Zhuge Robot’s new Pre-A financing gives its AI LOOK assistive robot a chance to move closer to people who need reliable help getting through unfamiliar places. For blind and visually impaired people, the real measure is dependable guidance when routes change, obstacles appear, and a missed handoff could create a mobility risk.