Hong Kong-based startup, Butler, shifts from domestic services to AI and becomes profitable. The goal of Butler, which was established in Hong Kong, is to assist property owners and managers in reducing expenses through the automation of tasks.

In 2024, Butler saw a threefold increase in its revenue, reaching a point of profitability in the last quarter, according to the company's co-founder, Angues Chan, in a recent discussion. He stated that their AI platform, responsible for managing tenant and resident questions as well as overseeing updates from maintenance staff, was utilized in more than 65 residential properties last year.

Chan predicts that the count of real estate properties catered by Butler will see a threefold increase this year, up from less than 10 in 2022, the year the platform was initiated.

Property managers in Hong Kong are leveraging AI-based tools for real estate operations to cut costs during an extended market slump, as stated by the initiators.

The cost of residential properties in Hong Kong decreased by more than 7 per cent last year, continuing a downward trend that saw a 15 per cent reduction in 2023 and a 7 per cent decrease in 2022, as per the most recent information from the Rating and Valuation Department. The total 27 per cent reduction signifies the second most extensive downturn in the property market since the start of official record-keeping in 1993.

"The Hong Kong property market has enjoyed privileges for a considerable period; now that circumstances aren't as favorable, it needs to adapt," stated Chan.

Fortune has identified Alibaba as the most respected Chinese internet company, even as it competes with DeepSeek. This e-commerce powerhouse is only surpassed by Amazon and Alphabet in the online services and retail sector.

The company based in Hangzhou, which owns the South China Morning Post, secured the third spot in the internet service and retail sector on Fortune's 2025 list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Its only competitors ahead were American giants, Amazon.com and Alphabet. This represents a significant rise from its eighth position the previous year.

Despite its efforts, Alibaba didn't manage to secure a spot in the top 50 of the overall rankings. The leading positions were dominated by companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Berkshire Hathaway.

DeepSeek has garnered global interest due to its latest open-source reasoning model, R1. The company claims that this model has achieved performances similar to OpenAI's proprietary GPT models in certain fields, but at a significantly reduced cost.

Former JPMorgan executive and Hong Kong business leaders debut a logistics platform powered by GenAI

NEXX employs GenAI and LLMs to aid warehouses in cutting expenses and enhancing productivity

NEXX employs GenAI and LLMs to aid warehouses in cutting expenses and enhancing productivity

Established in March 2024, the firm aims to address frequent challenges in the sector such as inadequate land, lack of workforce, and poor management through its smart technology. Its objective is to offer adaptable, economical, and expandable storage solutions for inventory.

The innovative idea of employing GenAI and LLMs to revolutionize the logistics industry has received positive market reception, says Houston Huang, co-founder and ex-chief executive of JPMorgan's securities division in China.

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'Flying Wolf', the inaugural 3D auto-sorting system powered by AI, originates from China.

"The size and division of the logistics market offer boundless potential," stated Huang. "Our goals are not limited to the local market, we're also considering global expansion."

"I am strongly convinced that NEXX is set to transform the sector, much like how Tesla significantly changed the landscape of the automobile industry."

This year, 15 million fresh Chinese electric vehicles will be equipped with autonomous driving functionalities. Even the models that cost less than 100,000 yuan (equivalent to US$13,914) will come with fundamental self-driving capabilities, as per a trade association.

These vehicles will possess a minimum of level 2 autonomous driving features, implying they can manage steering, speeding up and slowing down, but still necessitate the driver's intervention at any moment.

"The widespread manufacturing of high-level driver assistance systems [ADAS] in the biggest car market globally has allowed greater access for Chinese buyers to experience autonomous driving," stated David Zhang, the chief secretary for the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association. "The increasing acceptance of smart cars signifies a turning point in the worldwide car industry."

In 2024, car manufacturers from China produced and dispatched 22.9 million vehicles, a mix of electric and gas-powered cars, to customers both within the country and overseas. This represented a 5.5 per cent annual increase.

The majority of vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that are produced in China are usually valued over

Technology Battle: Huawei's cloud division drives DeepSeek models as part of China's pursuit for AI independence

Huawei's cloud division has collaborated with the Beijing-based AI infrastructure newcomer, SiliconFlow, to deliver models to the final users.

SiliconFlow, the company hosting the DeepSeek models, announced in an independent statement that the cost to access V3 on their platform is now reduced to 1 yuan (equivalent to US$0.13) for 1 million input tokens and 2 yuan for 1 million output tokens. However, the same usage rates for the R1 model are priced at 4 yuan and 16 yuan respectively.

Huawei's cloud service, Ascend, utilized its own Ascend solution for computation resources. This could include a variety of hardware such as Huawei's independently developed server clusters, AI modules, and accelerator cards, according to the company's website.

Huawei and SiliconFlow didn't provide details about the chips utilized in the Ascend cloud service.

Netflix has inked a merchandise agreement with Squishmallows, the creators of plush toys, for Stranger Things. The contract entails Stranger Things themed toys, action figures, playsets, toy cars, outfits, and plush toys, all of which will be made available as part of the deal with the streaming service and the soft toy manufacturer.

Netflix is broadening its reach in the toy industry by forming its inaugural comprehensive licensing agreement with the company responsible for the beloved Squishmallows plush toys. This collaboration will result in a product line influenced by its successful sci-fi series, Stranger Things.

The digital broadcasting powerhouse has given the toy manufacturing company, Jazwares, the permission to create a Stranger Things themed toy line. This range will feature action figures, playsets, toy cars, outfits, and plush toys, all inspired by the series. The show is set to come back for its last and 5th season later this year.

The agreement expands Netflix's partnership with the toy manufacturer, which launched its initial Stranger Things-themed Squishmallows last year.

Josh Simon, the Vice-President of consumer products at Netflix, lauded the Duffer Brothers – Matt and Ross, for their remarkable creation. He expressed his admiration for the show's intricate universe, brimming with references from the 80s pop culture and nostalgia, along with well-developed characters.

"From the perspective of merchandise and product development, we are truly dedicated to providing the same degree of narrative and meticulousness to our fans."

WeBank, supported by Tencent, is considering a Web3 growth plan in Hong Kong amidst the city's push for digital assets. Henry Ma, WeBank's Chief Information Officer, stated that the online bank will be actively participating in the creation of Hong Kong's Web3 framework.

Henry Ma, the Chief Information Officer of WeBank Technology Services, announced that the company, which started operations this month, intends to play a significant role in the development of the city's Web3 infrastructure. During an interview, Ma mentioned that the company maintains an extremely open-minded approach towards the industry.

"Ma expressed his belief that Hong Kong requires a strong and regulatory-compliant Web3 framework. He also asserted their suitability for this need."

WeBank, headquartered in Shenzhen and established in 2014 by Tencent and various other Chinese companies, holds the title of being the biggest digital-only bank in China and the tenth largest unicorn globally. As per a report from the Hurun Research Institute released in April, the company was estimated to be worth 235 billion yuan (US$32.4 billion) last year.

Not only does WeBank offer digital banking services, but it also manages an open-source blockchain platform known as FISCO BCOS. As of December, the company reported that the platform has over 500 applications in China, spreading across sectors such as finance, government services, and education.

The founder of DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng, is celebrated as a hero during his Lunar New Year visit to his hometown. According to local news, Liang Wenfeng's birthplace in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, has become a point of interest for tourists due to its association with DeepSeek.

The popularity of Liang's hometown has also skyrocketed, transforming it into a tourist hotspot due to its association with DeepSeek. An increase of national tourists to the distant village has been noted, as reported by Yangcheng Evening News, a government-supported publication headquartered in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong.

ATRenew, a platform supported by JD.com and known as the biggest in China for used electronics, is taking advantage of China's trade-in subsidy to boost sales. The platform is providing trade-in deals to coincide with the Lunar New Year celebrations.

ATRenew, the company running the biggest online marketplace for used consumer electronics in China, is set to profit from Beijing's stimulus package aimed at increasing consumer spending.

ATRenew and its e-commerce collaborator, JD.com, initiated promotional campaigns to align with the Lunar New Year festivities, as stated by Jeremy Ji Zixiao, the senior executive overseeing international business, strategic planning and investor relations.

"He mentioned that they would collaborate with their primary stakeholder, JD.com, to offer enticing products and additional perks for customers to seize the opportunity, though he didn't provide further details."

Starting January 20, Beijing initiated a 15% discount for customers purchasing new smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches valued at a maximum of 6,000 yuan (US$828), with a limit of 500 yuan per item per category. This initiative is a component of a countrywide trade-in program that started the previous year to stimulate consumer spending and aid the production sector.

Worries about job security and future earnings in the face of a decelerating economy have led Chinese consumers to become more frugal. Consequently, it's projected that the growth of China's actual consumption will stabilize around 3.8 per cent in the years 2025-26, as stated in a UBS report from January 20. Comparatively, consumption increased by 5.5 per cent in 2019 and 6.2 per cent in 2018, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics.

TikTok's comeback: Trump's new stance could provide ByteDance with optimism in the US

Trump's recent interest in TikTok, stemming from his popularity on the Chinese platform, paves the way for a potential agreement with ByteDance, despite facing legal obstacles.

The executive was seen alongside Tulsi Gabbard, who has been nominated by the president for the role of Director of National Intelligence. This was a day following an incident where Chew briefly suspended the app in the nation due to a conflict with the government regarding concerns over national security, pertaining to TikTok's Chinese ownership.

"Trump was incredibly pleased," the individual stated.

The pleasure represents a significant shift from Trump's attitude toward the brief video platform five years ago, when he attempted to push a sale through executive power. This demonstrates the dramatic political shift in Washington, providing ByteDance another opportunity to continue its primary product's operations in its key international market. Beijing has also indicated a possible readiness to collaborate under suitable circumstances.

Technology conflict: American companies adopt DeepSeek's AI model amidst scrutiny

US corporations, ranging from Nvidia to Microsoft and Amazon, have eagerly integrated the R1 model from the Chinese startup into their operations.

Prominent semiconductor company, Nvidia, has provided access to DeepSeek's R1 model for its NIM microservice users since Thursday. Nvidia claims that the model offers cutting-edge reasoning skills, superior inference efficiency, and unmatched precision for tasks that involve logical inference, reasoning, mathematics, coding, and language comprehension.

The open-source reasoning model R1 from DeepSeek, which was unveiled on January 20, has demonstrated a performance on par with OpenAI's proprietary GPT models in some aspects. However, it has done so at considerably reduced training expenses.

The initial sales performance of Hong Kong's first property release in the Year of the Snake was sluggish. As of 8pm, only 27 out of the 133 available units at The Reserve at Gold Coast Bay in Tuen Mun had been purchased.

By 8:30 in the evening, 27 items had been purchased.

"The sales outcomes are pleasing and meet our predictions," stated Sammy Po Siu-ming, the head of Midland Realty's residential sector.

"Numerous individuals go on trips over the prolonged Lunar New Year break, causing a short-term dip in sales," stated Po. "Nonetheless, it's anticipated that sales will recover and accelerate post-holiday when people come back and continue their hunt for property."

Recently, Early Light International Holdings, a company owned by toy magnate Francis Choi Chee-ming, managed to sell over 75% of the initial offering of 280 units at The Reserve to the general public.

The most recent apartments available begin at a price of HK$2.95 million (US$378,000), or HK$9,412 per square foot post discounts. The apartments vary from one to three bedrooms, with sizes ranging from 271 to 655 square feet. A few of these units also feature rooftop areas.