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The latest news, analysis and opinion on Apps. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
A Quark advertisement at the airport in Nanning, China. Photo: Simon Song
Alibaba

Alibaba’s Quark surpasses ByteDance’s Doubao as China’s top AI app

Quark’s rapid ascent comes as Alibaba has transformed the app from a cloud storage and search service into an ‘AI super assistant’.

ByteDance

TikTok drives ByteDance’s overseas sales despite US hurdles: report

TikTok

Trump says TikTok deal is still ‘on the table’

Banking & finance

Hong Kong’s finance sector embraces GenAI, with adoption to reach 90% in 5 years

GenAI applications have the potential to lead to a more curated customer experience, Academy of Finance CEO Enoch Fung says.

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Enoch Fung (left), CEO of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance and executive director of Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), and Giorgio Valente, head of HKIMR, release a report titled “Financial Services in the Era of Generative AI: Facilitating Responsible Adoption” on Wednesday. Photo: Handout
United States

Meta expands Instagram parental controls and brings them to Facebook

Under-16s need permission for live streams, as Meta’s Teen Accounts expands to Facebook.

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TikTok ban

Senator Mark Warner says new Trump TikTok extension may violate law

Trump on Friday said he extended by 75 days a deadline for ByteDance to sell US assets of TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer, or face a ban.

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Hong Kong workers/labour rights

Deliveroo riders to take legal action over compensation as it exits Hong Kong

Sixteen couriers plan to file claims with Labour Tribunal over employee entitlements.

Deliveroo is leaving the Hong Kong market after a nine-year run. Photo: Jelly Tse
Wellness

Take a photo of what food you have and let AI work out what you can cook

You’ve got the ingredients but what to prepare for you or your family? Free AI meal planning generators and apps can help get recipes.

Sex and relationships

Dating is a fraught affair in Iran, where tradition and modernity collide

In Iran, cultural shifts and societal pressures create challenges for young people eager to find a partner. To succeed they must break rules.

US-China trade war

Trump extends TikTok deadline, says China is ‘unhappy’ about tariffs

US president says White House ‘has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK’, and is willing to talk to Beijing about it.

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A general view of the offices of TikTok, as the site faces an April 5 deadline to reach a deal to find a non-Chinese buyer under threat of being banned from the United States, in Culver City, California on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Quora-like platform Zhihu bets on AI to become China’s X and LinkedIn

‘In the era of AI, the influence of high-quality content will only grow,’ finance chief Wang Han says in an interview with the Post.

Zhihu is hoping to become China’s primary platform for public discussions and professional knowledge sharing with the help of AI. Photo: Shutterstock
United States

Pentagon watchdog to probe use of Signal for Yemen attack plans

Inspector General’s office looking into Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of app to discuss air strikes against Houthis.

Artificial intelligence

Hong Kong crypto firm HashKey jumps on AI bandwagon, joining Web3 players

HashKey’s first AI product is designed for content moderation, but it envisions a future of AI agents trading on blockchain on behalf of users.

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Donald Trump

Waltz team set up 20 Signal chats on China, other global issues: US report

Trump officials have been slammed for using the app to discuss highly sensitive information, including war plans.

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US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz visits the US military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Monday. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Amazon, OnlyFans founder make last-minute bids for TikTok as US deadline looms

Trump officials are expected to discuss ByteDance’s video app on Wednesday, as it faces pressure to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned.

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The TikTok deadline comes amid concerns that the Chinese government could collect sensitive data on US citizens via the app. Photo: TNS
ByteDance

ByteDance-owned Douyin sheds light on algorithm amid regulatory pressure

The Chinese version of TikTok has launched a special website that explains how the app recommends and ‘moderates’ content for its users.

US-China relations

As extension winds down for TikTok sale, analysts say deadline may not matter

US President Donald Trump might ignore the law Congress passed and use the app as a bargaining chip in trade talks with Beijing.

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TikTok

Trump hints at a TikTok sale deal before April 5 deadline

A group consisting of Blackstone and ByteDance’s non-Chinese shareholders has emerged as front-running buyers.

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US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: Abaca Press/TNS
X (formerly Twitter)

Elon Musk sells X social media platform to his own xAI for US$33 billion

The tech billionaire plans to combine the ‘data, models, compute, distribution and talent’ from the app and start-up.

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Smartphones

Google’s Android transparency shift unnerves Chinese developers

Google is no longer developing Android in the open, which some developers believe could give an advantage to Huawei’s HarmonyOS.

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Alibaba

Alibaba’s AI crackdown: Taobao says e-commerce images must be ‘realistic’

Taobao’s initiative aligns with China’s broader regulatory efforts to address the misuse of generative AI.

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Taobao and Tmall Group is targeting the use of AI-generated product images that deceive buyers across all its platforms. Photo: Reuters
Tencent

Tencent adds AI chatbot friend to WeChat to keep users glued to app

WeChat users can now add Yuanbao as a ‘friend’ and interact with the chatbot without downloading a separate app.

WeChat has added the Yuanbao AI chatbot to its messaging feature. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

ChatGPT can now create charts for work and edit photos better

The new capabilities are available to both free and paid users via OpenAI’s GPT-4o model.

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US-China relations

Signal chat furore may push US workers to China’s side, Democrat warns

Senate intelligence committee vice chair says China is ‘luring individuals with national security clearance who’ve been pushed out’.

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United States

Trump officials texted secret Yemen war plans to journalist

Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic received US plan for Yemen strikes after being added to a group chat on Signal app.

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A woman walks on debris at the site of a US strike in Sanaa, Yemen on March 24. Photo: Reuters
TikTok ban

Senators urge Trump to seek authority from Congress for TikTok sale extension

Trump in January extended sale deadline to April 5 by delaying law requiring China’s ByteDance to sell majority stake to US owner or face ban.

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A smartphone displaying the @realdonaldtrump TikTok page. File photo: Reuters
Tencent

Tencent fourth-quarter profit surges 90% as AI gamble pays off

Profit reaches US$7.1 billion for the quarter, while full-year profit rises to US$26.8 billion.

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Alibaba

Alibaba’s Quark draws positive reviews in China as AI agent race heats up

Quark shows Alibaba’s ambition to be competitive in the market for AI agents, like Butterfly Effect’s Manus and OpenAI’s Deep Research.

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