Daily Tech Roundup: Chinese Tech Giants Bet Big on AI to Boost Cloud Business, EU to Slap Tariffs of Up To 48% on EV Imports From China

The Daily Tech Roundup provides insights into significant technological developments, particularly in China and Asia.

Chinese tech companies are heavily investing in artificial intelligence (AI) as a strategy to enhance their cloud businesses. Major firms such as ByteDance Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc., and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are reducing the prices of their large language models (LLMs). ByteDance started this trend in May by offering a steep discount for its large language model, Doubao, which prompted other major tech firms to follow suit. This initiated a price war in the Chinese AI sector, which has already seen billions of dollars in investments aimed at developing various AI models and products for both consumers and businesses. The main objective of this price war, however, is not to capture market share from competitors but to expand their cloud services, which support their core AI offerings, a person from a leading Chinese cloud provider told Caixin. [para. 2][para. 3][para. 4][para. 5]

The European Union (EU) is set to impose tariffs as high as 48% on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China starting next month, as part of increasing trade tensions. Car manufacturers including BYD, Geely, and MG-owner SAIC have been notified about these additional charges that will commence around July 4. This move comes after a prolonged investigation into subsidies for the EV industry in China. The levels of duty will vary, with SAIC Motor Corp. facing the highest increase of 38.1%, adding to the existing 10% duty. This measure will impact SAIC significantly, particularly affecting models like the MG4. [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9]

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) has overtaken LG Energy Solution Ltd. as the top supplier of EV batteries outside China for the first four months of 2024. According to a report by SNE Research, CATL's share of installed capacity in non-China markets rose to 27.4%, just above LG Energy's 25.7%. This shift occurred due to a significant 16.2% year-on-year increase in CATL's installed EV battery capacity, amounting to 27.7 GWh from January to April 2024. [para. 10][para. 11][para. 12]

German electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft manufacturer Lilium NV has announced the establishment of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. Located in the Bao’an Low Altitude Economy Industry Public Service Center, this new regional office will support sales and services across the Asia-Pacific region, with local recruitment beginning this year. Shenzhen is a technological hub with an economy focused on innovation and the development of a low-altitude economy. [para. 13][para. 14][para. 15]

Hong Kong's ambitions to become a global hub for trading virtual assets (VAs) are attracting financial institutions from mainland China to release innovative blockchain-based financial products. Subsidiaries of mainland mutual fund companies, including Harvest Global Investments Ltd., Bosera Asset Management (International) Co. Ltd., and China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., received approval in April to list the first batch of spot VA exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Hong Kong. These six funds, divided between Bitcoin and Ether, began trading on April 30 and attracted initial subscriptions totaling approximately $300 million. This development is seen as boosting Hong Kong’s profile and providing an experimental zone for Beijing regulators to observe before potentially crafting similar policies for the mainland market. [para. 16][para. 17][para. 18][para. 19]