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… me.
In this era, the only path is forward. Do the riskiest experiments with the most novel tech to create seemingly impossible user experiences. Those small cracks are what big tech companies overlook. That’s where startups can win.
<h3>AN: When do you think we’ll see a “killer app” for AI coding? Could it be CodeFlying?</h3>
WX: My guess is 2027.
By 2025, models will code as well as human programmers. By 2027, they will understand the real world like a decent product manager.
Until then, we’re in the training arc, gathering personalized data and building intuition through use cases.
<h3>AN: Lastly, name three books that have shaped your thinking.</h3>
WX: The first is “The Road Less Traveled” by Morgan Scott Peck. Second is “Mao Zedong,” which I learn something new from each time I read it. He faced every entrepreneurial challenge imaginable: betrayal by his leadership, regaining control at the Zunyi Conference, creating a bloc of aligned actors, and fending off competitors. He’s arguably China’s ultimate founder.
Finally, “Principles” by Ray Dalio, a book that cemented my “China first” conviction.
<a href="/collections/100-ai-creators">100 AI Creators</a> is a collaborative project between AI Now! and KrASIA, highlighting trailblazers in AI. Know an AI talent we should feature? <a href="mailto:ainow@kr-asia.com">Reach out to us.</a>

No code, no problem: How CodeFlying is turning mahjong players and couriers into app creators

Artificial Intelligence

Deep Tech

China

<a href="/company/tesla">Tesla</a> marked a milestone in its transformation into an <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a> company with the launch of its first commercial robotaxi service in Austin during the second quarter of 2025. The achievement, however, came amid declining vehicle deliveries and tightening margins that weighed on earnings.
The company reported USD 1.2 billion in GAAP net income for the quarter, down 16% from the same period last year, while total revenue declined 12% year-on-year (YoY) to USD 22.5 billion. The drop was primarily driven by a 13% decrease in vehicle deliveries and a reduction in regulatory credit revenue, though sequential gains in average selling prices and higher service income helped offset some of the impact.
“This is a seminal point,” CEO Elon Musk said during the earnings call, referencing the debut of paid driverless rides in Austin.
“Customers really love the experience. It's super smooth, very safe, and just a great experience overall,” said Ashok Elluswamy, vice president of vehicle software at Tesla, who was also on the call. “We already did a first phase of expansion in Austin, and we will continue to expand in Austin to probably more than tenfold our current operating region.” The next target markets reportedly include the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona.
Tesla's initial fleet of robotaxis remains modest, but early signs suggest strong performance: more than 7,000 miles driven in Austin without any critical safety interventions.
Yet while autonomy dominated the quarter’s narrative, the company’s core automotive business continued to face pressure. Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles in Q2, down from 443,956 a year earlier. Production of a new, more affordable model began in June, but the volume ramp is now expected later this year as the company navigates supply chain complexity and shifts in demand driven by changing incentives.
The US government’s planned rollback of <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> tax credits, set to take effect in Q4, has further clouded the near-term outlook. Tesla warned it may not be able to fulfill late summer orders in time to qualify for the credits, which could weigh on sales.
Still, the company emphasized its long-term roadmap. The <a href="https://kr-asia.com/tesla-unveils-cybercab-and-robovan-but-musk-leaves-questions-unanswered">Cybercab</a>, a purpose-built robotaxi, is in development with production slated for 2026. Musk said it could ultimately operate at costs below USD 0.3 per mile, potentially undercutting traditional ride-hailing services. Tesla is also advancing its humanoid robot, Optimus, with a third-generation prototype expected by year’s end and mass production targeted within five years.
Tesla's energy division posted record gross profits, fueled by strong demand for its Megapack battery systems despite challenges from tariffs and expiring consumer credits. Services and other revenue grew 17% YoY, lifted by increased profits from vehicle charging, insurance, and after-sales support.
Musk reiterated his view that Tesla’s future lies in “real-world AI,” positioning the company as a leader in the field. “Isn't Google good at AI? Yes. But they are not good at real-world AI. Tesla is much better than Google,” he said.
As the company leans further into autonomy, it is scaling its AI training infrastructure to match. Tesla has deployed the equivalent of 67,000 H100 GPUs and is preparing the next version of its Dojo supercomputer platform, expected to be operating at scale in 2026.
Despite the near-term headwinds, Musk remained upbeat. “We have done what we said we were going to do,” he said. “We are not always on time, but we get it done.”

Tesla’s robotaxi debut grabs headlines while EV sales sputter

Tesla

Transportation

Autonomous Vehicles

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

… href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Trade-war/Trump-tariffs/Trump-tariff-tracker-the-latest-on-US-levies-affecting-Asia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heaps fresh pressure</a> on countries to reduce ties with China through its trade policy, according to Howie.
Trump earlier this month threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries that support the "anti-American" policy of BRICS, the acronym for major emerging market economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This injected renewed fears that countries with close economic ties to Beijing will be penalized.
"Is taking a RMB loan seen as supporting the BRICs agenda? Does that come under the radar screen of the American administration?" Howie said.
John Marrett, director of financial risk at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Hong Kong, said he doesn't expect China's overseas lending will return to the peak of 2021 following a string of debt problems among developing markets borrowers.
"Any shift [in reduced demand for the dollar] will be limited in the foreseeable future," he said. "There are no alternatives that match the low risk level and sufficient supply of US treasuries."
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Finance/Chinese-banks-trim-dollar-lending-to-developing-Asia">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Chinese banks trim dollar lending to developing Asia

Lending

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… company’s most powerful voices. Though Giannandrea was recruited from Google in 2018 with the aim of supercharging Apple’s AI efforts, he found his initiatives repeatedly blocked—often by Federighi.
According to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-05-18/how-apple-intelligence-and-siri-ai-went-so-wrong">Bloomberg</a> reporter Mark Gurman, Federighi was deeply skeptical of AI and hesitant to approve large-scale investments. Even as ChatGPT gained mainstream traction in 2023, Apple’s internal AI budget remained conservative compared to the amount spent by OpenAI.
Giannandrea’s Siri team was transferred to the SWE division in March this year, a sign that Tim Cook had lost confidence in his execution.
<h3>Loyalty to hardware, disregard for talent</h3>
<a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> co-founder Jack Ma once said companies lose talent for one of two reasons: either the money’s not right, or they feel underappreciated.
Pang’s departure was arguably driven by both.
One source close to Apple noted that Federighi insists on maintaining “Apple standards,” which means no AI research can be published unless it ships with a product. And even then, the shipped version is often a scaled-down version of what the engineers built.
“Craig would rather let people say Apple is bad at AI than let them say Apple builds bad AI services,” the source said.
Apple’s closed ecosystem created another constraint: the models had to run on Apple’s own hardware. But the performance of its custom chips has yet to match that of industry-leading GPUs like <a href="/company/nvidia">Nvidia’s</a> H100. This forced the AFM team to continually downgrade their models just to make them deployable.
Federighi himself acknowledged this in an internal email to Pang, notifying him that Apple is forcing huge compromises to run models on its hardware.
While Apple’s chip legacy in mobile and laptop computing is well-known, its AI chip development is still in early stages. According to internal projections, Apple’s next-gen AI chips may only match today’s H100-level performance.
Ultimately, Apple’s insistence on in-house development, combined with its aversion to publicizing R&amp;D, became a liability. It trapped top-tier scientists like Pang in a system where great work couldn’t be seen or celebrated.
This is Apple’s AI paradox: the company’s desire to guard its legacy now threatens its future.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3382804218771464">article</a> was written by Chen Jiahui for 36Kr.

Trapped by silence: How Apple lost its top AI talent to Meta

Apple

… then offer a neat list of suggestions. Always sympathetic, always orderly.”
In the thick of despair, few pause to question if that sympathy is genuine.
Huang shared a revealing insight: many users turn to AI not because they trust it more, but because they don’t know who else to talk to. “They are full of feelings but have no one to tell, or they can’t find the right person.”
Still, people do snap out of it. Abby once had a small argument with her boyfriend and instinctively asked ChatGPT for help. Then she paused: “Why am I asking AI about something so small? Does it know me better than I do?”
Since then, she has made an effort to reduce her reliance on AI:
<blockquote>“We need to understand ourselves through real life. That’s how we learn to live better with others.”</blockquote>
Now, she’s even thinking about booking another session with her therapist. Maybe that disappointing consultation wasn’t because the therapist wasn’t good, but because she wasn’t told what she most wanted to hear.
“Sure, I want a comforting answer in the heat of the moment, but in the end, I’m still a rational person. I don’t just want to hear what I want to hear.”
“AI, therapists, even workouts, tarot cards, or journaling. These are all tools. None should be your only anchor,” Li said. “What matters most isn’t which tool you use. It’s whether you have the will and courage to take action.”
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3358384565913349">article</a> was written by Hu Xiangyun for 36Kr.

“This must be painful for you”: How AI became our emotional mirror

Is Kimi K2 strong enough to spark China’s next “DeepSeek moment?”

Foundation and Large Models

… overtaking the BMW X5 as the bestselling model priced above RMB 500,000 (USD 70,000). Seres executive Kang Bo noted that 90% of M9 buyers chose the range-extended version.
“We initially considered partnering with Seres on range-extended EVs, but talks didn’t go smoothly,” a BMW source told 36Kr. “Now the German headquarters is taking the lead, with China providing R&amp;D support. Realistically, the earliest rollout would be 2027 or 2028.”
China remains BMW’s largest single market, accounting for roughly one-third of global sales and driving a significant portion of its profits. As competitive pressure builds, the automaker is working to align more closely with local consumer demands while maintaining its standards for testing and validation.
Whether through revived range extender development or partnerships like the one with Momenta, BMW is signaling a clear intent to adapt. The century-old brand is repositioning itself for a new chapter in the world’s most competitive automotive landscape.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3328790568937987">article</a> was written by Xu Caiyu for 36Kr.

BMW teams up with Momenta to stay in China’s smart driving race

… developers like us, AI is about rethinking the OS and the interaction model. We're embedding AI in the middleware to reduce friction and speed up access to information. That’s the real value AI brings. But we don’t intend to build foundation models ourselves. That’s not our role.
<h3>36Kr: Where are the real long-term barriers to entry?</h3>
YL: There are three key areas.
<ol>
<li aria-level="1">First, miniaturization. Can we make glasses that are always on, as light and wearable as prescription eyewear?</li>
<li aria-level="1">Second, display quality. We’ve invested heavily in waveguide optics to raise performance standards. Third, system-level AI, focusing on enhancing spatial computing and interaction through middleware and six degrees-of-freedom capabilities.</li>
<li aria-level="1">And finally, the supply chain. We’re pushing to raise our localization rate to 90% or even 100%, so prices can drop to smartwatch or earbud levels. That’s how AI glasses will break into the mass market.</li>
</ol>
<h3>36Kr: What’s next for Inmo in the second half of the year?</h3>
YL: We’re investing in all three of those priorities. First, we’ve built a new waveguide production line to improve yield and quality. That alone took RMB 40–50 million (USD 5.6–7 million).
Second, on the AI side, we’re redesigning our OS middleware to shorten user interaction flows. For instance, if you want to order takeout, the glasses can suggest options directly without requiring any searching.
We’ve also launched a RMB 50 million (USD 7 million) fund to incubate native agentic AI applications that will enrich the smart glasses ecosystem.
<h3>36Kr: People have long asked what the “killer app” for smart glasses might be. Has AI changed your answer?</h3>
YL: AI isn’t an application. It’s a foundational layer. But it will lead to those apps you’re alluding to. Right now, tool-based features like translation and ordering food offer real value. Compared to taking out a phone, glasses get the job done faster.
In the longer term, I believe the big breakthroughs will come in entertainment and social interaction. That’s where the endgame lies.
<h3>36Kr: Is there an AI services ecosystem emerging for glasses makers?</h3>
YL: Yes, but it's still early. Building an agent is much easier than a traditional app. It’s more like a mini program. Most of the work is being done by startups and indie developers. We’ve committed RMB 50 million to build out this developer ecosystem and expect to see some fun, useful AI agents emerge.
<h3>36Kr: Which large models are you integrating into your product?</h3>
YL: We’re taking a hybrid approach. We use different models for different tasks: Doubao for chat, DeepSeek for search, and China Mobile’s Jiutian model for interactive scenarios.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3373278892988419">article</a> was written by Qiu Xiaofen for 36Kr.

Inmo eyes lead in China’s AI glasses market with RMB 150 million boost

Augmented and Virtual Reality

China's <a href="/industry/food-delivery">food delivery</a> war rages on as the three big platforms, <a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a>, <a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a>, and <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a>, vie to become the ultimate gateway for consumer spending in Asia's largest economy.
The battle ignited by JD heated up further over the weekend, with platforms announcing that both orders and users had reached record highs on the back of heavy subsidies. The frenzy came after reports that some users had received free bubble tea and coffee over recent weekends, leading to a surge in shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese bubble tea brands.
With the subsidy war lasting longer than expected, it is set to hamper platforms' profits for the second quarter as well as the full fiscal year, analysts warn. Following the intensifying competition, investment banks including Morgan Stanley, UBS and Citigroup have cut their target price of Alibaba, whose shares have gained more than 30% thanks to its artificial intelligence initiatives involving its competitive open-sourced models.
Early this month, Morgan Stanley lowered its target price for Alibaba's American Depositary Receipts (ADR) to USD 150 from USD 180. The bank noted that Alibaba invested approximately RMB 10 billion (USD 1.4 billion) in food delivery and instant retail services in the April-June quarter, saying the move has put its short-term profitability under pressure.
Lowering Alibaba's ADR target price to USD 148, Citi analyst Alicia Yap said she expects a 15% fall in Alibaba's group profit for the April-June quarter and an 11% drop for the full fiscal year, with profits for its Taobao and Tmall Group tumbling 18% in both periods compared to last year.
Early this month, Taobao announced a RMB 50 billion (USD 7 billion) subsidy plan to distribute large-value coupons, free order cards, and subsidized fixed-price products to consumers, as well as various forms of subsidies for merchants. It said the subsidies would be in place for the next 12 months, but it is not clear how much will be doled out incrementally and how much is in the form of actual cash or waiving certain fees for merchants.
The food delivery platforms have also been bombarding consumers with offers on Saturdays, with Taobao pledging to distribute a limited number of coupons worth up to RMB 188 (USD 26.3) and Meituan trying to match Taobao's offer. JD offered 100,000 servings of premium crawfish for RMB 16.18 (USD 2.3) each to users across the country.
whereRelatedArticle
JD announced its entry into the sector in February, as Meituan, traditionally focused on food delivery, began expanding into the broader instant retail market by selling a wide range of products, posing a direct threat to JD's core business. In response to the increasing competition from its <a href="/industry/e-commerce">e-commerce</a> rivals, Alibaba merged its food delivery platform Ele.me and its online travel platform Fliggy into its China e-commerce business group, aiming to provide these apps with greater resource support to fend off rivals.
According to QuestMobile, the shared user base across JD, Meituan, and Ele.me apps in May grew to 77.61 million, up 32.4% from last year. Meanwhile, the share of loyal users for JD and Meituan has dropped, reflecting a stronger tendency for users to shop around.
Citi's Yap expects JD's net profit for the second quarter to drop 68% to RMB 4.7 billion compared to last year, despite revenue growth of 15.3% for the year.
Goldman Sachs said in a note this month that the duration of investments in instant retail this time will extend for longer, as all three platforms are shifting focus to become China's "everyday app" for both goods and services. The investment bank estimates that the three platforms invested a combined RMB 25 billion (USD 3.5 billion) in instant retail in the second quarter, which is set to eat into profits this year.
Kenneth Fong, UBS Investment Bank's head of Internet research in China, said he expects the instant retail industry, excluding food delivery, to grow by 30%, reaching a scale of RMB 760 billion (USD 106.4 billion) and accounting for 4–5% of China's e-commerce market this year.
"The landscape is increasingly challenging, resembling a high-stakes 'game of chicken,' where the early investments of whichever player yields first could end up wasted. We expect this intense competition to continue at least through the [Singles' Day] shopping festival in November," said Fong in a recent note.
Fong added that the value generated by instant retail may fall short of what internet giants initially hoped for in the end, as shoppers will prioritize the best deals over platform loyalty.
Additionally, there is a risk of overinvesting in delivery infrastructure, since not all products require 30-minute delivery, he added.
Since the start of this year, China's top market regulator has repeatedly pledged a sweeping crackdown on cutthroat competition in sectors including e-commerce and <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicles</a>, warning that relentless price wars would hinder innovation.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/China-s-food-delivery-wars-taking-a-bite-out-of-Alibaba-s-others-profits">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

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