China cracks down on 20 smart devices for user data violations
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Oct. 22 it had identified 20 smart terminal products that infringe on user rights. The products, including smart cameras and children’s smartwatches, were criticized for issues such as excessively collecting personal information and forcing automatic subscription renewals.
Huawei launches HarmonyOS 6
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. on Oct. 22 launched its new-generation operating system, HarmonyOS 6. The company said that as of the same day, the number of terminal devices running the previous version, HarmonyOS 5, had exceeded 23 million. Huawei also stated that major internet applications are now fully compatible with the HarmonyOS ecosystem, while small and midsize apps are quickly being adapted.
Baidu’s Apollo Go to launch robotaxi service in Switzerland
Baidu Inc.’s autonomous ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, on Oct. 22 announced a strategic partnership with PostBus, a subsidiary of Swiss Post, to launch a robotaxi service in Switzerland. The service, named “AmiGo,” will begin fleet testing in December, with regular operations expected to roll out in phases by the first quarter of 2027.
Humanoid robot startup raises nearly 1.5 billion yuan
Chinese humanoid-robot startup Leju Robotics announced Oct. 22 it has completed a pre-IPO financing round of nearly 1.5 billion yuan ($210 million), backed by a consortium of investors.
China Unicom’s third-quarter profit up 5.4%
China Unicom reported Oct. 22 that its net profit attributable to shareholders grew 5.4% year-on-year to 2.4 billion yuan in the third quarter, while its revenue remained flat at 92.8 billion yuan. For the first nine months of the year, net profit rose 5.2% to 8.8 billion yuan.
Tesla’s third-quarter net profit falls 29%
Tesla Inc. on Oct. 22 reported that its non-GAAP net profit for the third quarter fell 29% year-on-year to $1.8 billion, even as revenue grew 12% to $28.1 billion. The electric-car maker delivered 497,000 cars in the same period, an increase of 7.4% from a year earlier.
Self-driving startup Avride gets $375 million from Uber, Nebius
U.S. autonomous-driving developer Avride on Oct. 22 announced it has received a $375 million investment from Uber Technologies Inc. and AI cloud provider Nebius Group NV. Avride’s robotaxi service is scheduled to launch on the Uber platform by the end of 2025.
