U.S. moves to block Chinese labs from certifying electronics
The U.S. has proposed new rules that would bar testing laboratories in countries lacking mutual recognition agreements (MRAs), including China, from certifying electronic equipment for the U.S. market. If implemented, the measure could cut off more than 150 testing facilities on the Chinese mainland from certifying electronics exports, raising costs for many manufacturers with U.S. operations while escalating technological tensions between Washington and Beijing. The proposal stipulates that testing labs and certification bodies in countries that lack either an MRA with the U.S. or a comparable reciprocal trade agreement will lose Federal Communications Commission recognition. The affected facilities would see their accreditation phased out within two years.
ByteDance plans subscriptions for AI chatbot Doubao
ByteDance Ltd. plans to introduce a paid subscription service for Doubao, aiming to turn the artificial intelligence chatbot’s massive user base into sustainable revenue. While Doubao’s basic version will remain free to meet users’ simple needs, the platform prepares to offer three paid packages. The packages consist of a standard version priced at 68 yuan ($10) per month, an enhanced version available at 200 yuan per month and a professional version that costs 500 yuan per month. The fees are all charged on a continuous subscription basis. The paid features will primarily focus on complex tasks and productivity, such as presentation generation, data analysis and video production, according to a person close to the Doubao team.
Cyberspace regulator penalizes accounts for failing to properly label information
The Cyberspace Administration of China announced on May 3 that some social media accounts have been misleading the public by failing to properly indicate the sources of their information when publishing content related to current affairs and public policy. Violations included failing to cite sources for domestic and international news, public policies and social events, as well as omitting labels for AI-generated content or fictionalized content. The regulator urged online platforms to conduct self-inspections and has dealt with over 98,000 non-compliant accounts, citing examples from platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili and Weibo.
