The meteoric rise of DeepSeekthe Chinese AI startup now challenging global giantshas stunned observers and put the spotlight on Chinas AI sector. Since ChatGPTs debut in 2022, the countrys tech ecosystem has been in relentless pursuit of homegrown alternatives, giving rise to a wave of startups and billion-dollar bets.Today, the race is dominated by tech titans like Alibaba and ByteDance, alongside well-funded rivals backed by heavyweight investors. But two years into Chinas generative AI boom we are seeing a shift: Smaller innovators have to carve out their own niches or risk missing out. What began as a sprint has become a high-stakes marathonChinas AI ambitions have never been higher.An elite group of companies known as the Six TigersStepfun, Zhipu, Minimax, Moonshot, 01.AI, and Baichuanare generally considered to be at the forefront of Chinas AI sector. But alongside them, research-focused firms like DeepSeek and ModelBest continue to grow in influence. Some, such as Minimax and Moonshot, are giving up on costly foundational model training to hone in on building consumer-facing applications on top of others models. Others, like Stepfun and Infinigence AI, are doubling down on research, driven in part by US semiconductor restrictions.We have identified these four Chinese AI companies as the ones to watch.StepfunFounded in April 2023 by former Microsoft senior vice president Jiang Daxin, Stepfun emerged relatively late onto the AI startup scene, but it has quickly become a contender thanks to its portfolio of foundational models. It is also committed to building artificial general intelligence (AGI), a mission a lot of Chinese startups have given up on.With backing from investors like Tencent and funding from Shanghais government, the firm released 11 foundational AI models last yearspanning language, visual, video, audio, and multimodal systems. Its biggest language model so far, Step-2, has over 1 trillion parameters (GPT-4 has about 1.8 trillion). It is currently ranked behind only ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, and Geminis models on LiveBench, a third-party benchmark site that evaluates the capabilities of large language models.Stepfuns multimodal model, Step-1V, is also highly ranked for its ability to understand visual inputs on Chatbot Arena, a crowdsource platform where users can compare and rank AI models performance.This company is now working with AI application developers, who are building on top of its models. According to Chinese media outlet 36Kr, demand from external developers to use Stepfuns multimodal API surged over 45-fold in the second half of 2024.ModelBestResearchers at the prestigious Tsinghua University founded ModelBest in 2022 in Beijings Haidian district. Since then, the company has distinguished itself by leaning into efficiency and embracing the trend of small language models. Its MiniCPM seriesoften dubbed Little Powerhouses in Chineseis engineered for on-device, real-time processing on smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, smart home devices, and even robots. Its pitch to customers is that this combination of smaller models and local data processing cuts costs and enhances privacy.ModelBests newest model, MiniCPM 3.0, has only 4 billion parameters but matches the performance of GPT-3.5 on various benchmarks. On GitHub and Hugging Face, the companys models can be found under the profile of OpenBMB (Open Lab for Big Model Base), its open-source research lab.Investors have taken note: In December 2024, the company announced a new, third round of funding worth tens of millions of dollars.ZhipuAlso originating at Tsinghua University, Zhipu AI has grown into a company with strong ties to government and academia. The firm is developing foundational models as well as AI products based on them, including ChatGLM, a conversational model, and a video generator called Ying, which is akin to OpenAIs Sora system.GLM-4-Plus, the companys most advanced large language model to date, is trained on high-quality synthetic data, which reduces training costs, but has still matched the performance of GPT-4. The company has also developed GLM-4V-Plus, a vision model capable of interpreting web pages and videos, which represents a step toward AI with more agentic capabilities.Among the cohort of new Chinese AI startups, Zhipu is the first to get on the US governments radar. On January 15, the Biden administration revised its export control regulations, adding over 20 Chinese entitiesincluding 10 subsidiaries of Zhipu AIto its restricted trade list, restricting them from receiving US goods or technology for national interest reasons. The US claims Zhipus technology is helping Chinas military, which the company denies.Valued at over $2 billion, Zhipu is currently one of the biggest AI startups in China and is reportedly soon planning an IPO. The companys investors include Beijing city government-affiliated funds and various prestigious VCs.Infinigence AIFounded in 2023, Infinigence AI is smaller than other companies on this list, though it has still attracted $140 million in funding so far. The company focuses on infrastructure instead of model development. Its main selling point is its ability to combine chips from lots of different brands successfully to execute AI tasks, forming whats dubbed a heterogeneous computing cluster. This is a unique challenge Chinese AI companies face due to US chip sanctions.Infinigence AI claims its system could increase the effectiveness of AI training by streamlining how different chip architecturesincluding various models from AMD, Huawei, and Nvidiawork in synchronization.In addition, Infinigence AI has launched its Infini-AI cloud platform, which combines multiple vendors products to develop and deploy models. The company says it wants to build an effective compute utilization solution with Chinese characteristics, and native to AI training. It claims that its training system HetHub could reduce AI models training time by 30% by optimizing the heterogeneous computing clusters Chinese companies often have.Honorable mentionsBaichuanWhile many of its competitors chase scale and expansive application ranges, Baichuan AI, founded by industry veteran Wang Xiaochuan (the founder of Sogou) in April 2023, is focused on the domestic Chinese market, targeting sectors like medical assistance and health care.With a valuation over $2 billion after its newest round of fundraising, Baichuan is currently among the biggest AI startups in China.MinimaxFounded by AI veteran Yan Junjie, Minimax is best known for its product Talkie, a companion chatbot available around the world. The platform provides various characters users can chat with for emotional support or entertainment, and it had even more downloads last year than leading competitor chatbot platform Character.ai.Chinese media outlet 36Kr reported that Minimaxs revenue in 2024 was around $70 million, making it one of the most successful consumer-facing Chinese AI startups in the global market.MoonshotMoonshot is best known for building Kimi, the second-most-popular AI chatbot in China, just after ByteDances Doubao, with over 13 million users. Released in 2023, Kimi supports input lengths of over 200,000 characters, making it a popular choice among students, white-collar workers, and others who routinely have to work with long chunks of text.Founded by Yang Zhilin, a renowned AI researcher who studied at Tsinghua University and Carnegie Mellon University, Moonshot is backed by big tech companies, including Alibaba, and top venture capital firms. The company is valued at around $3 billion but is reportedly scaling back on its foundational model research as well as overseas product development plans, as key people leave the company.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.How the Rubin Observatory will help us understand dark matter and dark energyWe can put a good figure on how much we know about the universe: 5%. Thats how much of whats floating about in the cosmos is ordinary matterplanets and stars and galaxies and the dust and gas between them. The other 95% is dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious entities aptly named for our inability to shed light on their true nature.Previous work has begun pulling apart these dueling forces, but dark matter and dark energy remain shrouded in a blanket of questionscritically, what exactly are they?Enter the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, one of our 10 breakthrough technologies for 2025. Boasting the largest digital camera ever created, Rubin is expected to study the cosmos in the highest resolution yet once it begins observations later this year. And with a better window on the cosmic battle between dark matter and dark energy, Rubin might narrow down existing theories on what they are made of. Heres a look at how.Jenna AhartThis story is part of MIT Technology Review Explains, our series untangling the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand whats coming next. You can read more from the series here.Anthropic has a new way to protect large language models against jailbreaksWhats new? AI firm Anthropic has developed a new line of defense against a common kind of attack called a jailbreak. A jailbreak tricks large language models (LLMs) into doing something they have been trained not to, such as help somebody create a weapon. And Anthropics new approach could be the strongest shield against the attacks yet.How they did it: Jailbreaks are a kind of adversarial attack: input passed to a model that makes it produce an unexpected output. Despite a decade of research there is still no way to build a model that isnt vulnerable. But, instead of trying to fix its models, Anthropic has developed a barrier that stops attempted jailbreaks from getting through and unwanted responses from the model getting out. Read the full story.Will Douglas HeavenThree things to know as the dust settles from DeepSeekThe launch of a single new AI model does not normally cause much of a stir outside tech circles, nor does it typically spook investors enough to wipe out $1 trillion in the stock market. Now, a couple of weeks since DeepSeeks big moment, the dust has settled a bit.Within AI, though, what impact is DeepSeek likely to have in the longer term? Here are three seeds DeepSeek has planted that will grow even as the initial hype fades.James ODonnellThis story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.If youre interested in learning more about what DeepSeeks breakout success means for the future of AI, watch this conversation between our news editor Charlotte Jee, senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven, and China reporter Caiwei Chen. It was held at noon ET yesterday as part of our subscriber-only Roundtables seriescheck it out!The must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 Elon Musks government allies are weighing up using AI to cut costsAs part of Musks plans to gut federal contracts across the board. (NYT $)+ A 25-year old engineer now has access to the USs top secret systems. (Wired $)+ Staffers for the US agency that sends aid to the worlds neediest have been locked out of their email accounts. (NY Mag $)+ Such measures would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago. (Vox)+ Palantir CEO Alex Karp is a fan of DOGE. (Insider $)2 China has announced its own tariffs on US importsSparking new fears of a full-blown trade war. (FT $)+ The days of cheap Chinese shopping in the US could be coming to an end. (NY Mag $)+ Heres what Trumps tariffs mean for the likes of Temu and Shein. (The Information $)3 US senators blame Silicon Valley for DeepSeeks runaway successBig Techs lobbying for softer export controls created corporate loopholes, they claim. (WP $)+ The rise of DeepSeek doesnt mean the controls have failed, according to ASML. (WSJ $)+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)4 Meta says it wont release AI systems it deems too riskyBut how that risk is measured is up to Meta. (TechCrunch)+ A new public database lists all the ways AI could go wrong. (MIT Technology Review)5 Gender affirming care is under major threat in the USAdvocates fear Trumps executive order will prevent many people from accessing lifesaving treatments. (Undark)+ Many hospitals are continuing to offer their services, though. (Axios)+ New Yorks Attorney General says pausing such care could violate state law. (The Hill)6 The App Store is now hosting its first porn appAnd Apple is not happy about it. (Reuters)+ The company has an EU antitrust law to thank. (WP $)7 The Doomsday Clock has been given a makeover We are now 89 seconds away from the end of the world. (Fast Company $)8 Meet the UKs AI grandmother wasting scammers timeFraudsters have been left frustrated by the bots dithering. (The Guardian)+ The people using humour to troll their spam texts. (MIT Technology Review)9 We still dont know much about Mars moonsBut a new mission could change that. (New Scientist $)10 Mark Zuckerbergs famous hoodie is up for auctionIf youre so inclined to want to own a piece of nerd history. (Insider $)Quote of the dayItll scare people, itll make people think that the industry is a scam.Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trumps former communications director, doesnt think much of his former bosss memecoin, he tells the Financial Times.The big storyThe open-source AI boom is built on Big Techs handouts. How long will it last?May 2023In May 2023 a leaked memo reported to have been written by Luke Sernau, a senior engineer at Google, said out loud what many in Silicon Valley must have been whispering for weeks: an open-source free-for-all is threatening Big Techs grip on AI.New open-source large language modelsalternatives to Googles Bard or OpenAIs ChatGPT that researchers and app developers can study, build on, and modifyare dropping like candy from a piata. These are smaller, cheaper versions of the best-in-class AI models created by the big firms that (almost) match them in performanceand theyre shared for free.In many ways, thats a good thing. AI wont thrive if just a few mega-rich companies get to gatekeep this technology or decide how it is used. But this open-source boom is precarious, and if Big Tech decides to shut up shop, a boomtown could become a backwater. Read the full story.Will Douglas HeavenWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet em at me.)+ Today would have been the 112th birthday of Rosa Parks, the civil activist who changed the course of history.+ If youre planning a spring break, consider this well-timed inspiration.+ A Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is reportedly in the works.+ Rise up, daughters of grunge!

Apple today introduced Apple Invites, a new app for iPhone that allows users to create custom invitations to gather friends and family.

You shouldn't have to touch devices or tap on apps to control them, says a new Apple patent, you should be able to just wave your iPhone and let it figure out what you want.Detail from the patent showing an iPhone (or "wireless communications device") controlling other devices image credit: AppleSometimes you can see a clear connection between different Apple patents, and this may be one of them. For Apple was recently granted a patent for what appears to be a remote control for the expected Home Hub and now it's gone further.In a newly-granted patent called "Controlling Electronic Devices Based On Wireless Ranging," Apple expands its idea to remotely controlling anything from real-life physical devices, to virtual ones. Right now you can control a TV set from your iPhone or unlock a car, but this new patent wants one device that controls everything, and figures out for itself what you want. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Cybercriminals are upping their game in 2025 with smarter AI and stealthier ransomware targeting Mac users, leaving defenders scrambling to keep up.MacBook AirThe year 2025 may mark the turning point for AI's role in cybersecurity, according to a recent report from Malwarebytes. While generative AI tools like ChatGPT have made minor waves since their debut, their capabilities have largely been limited to assisting with coding and research tasks.However, the arrival of agentic AI artificial intelligence capable of acting autonomously and solving complex tasks is set to change this dynamic. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The organizers behind the U.S. Pavilion for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale have selected 52 projects to feature as part of the pavilions exhibition. Chosen from a nationwide open call, the projects will feature as part of the PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity exhibition which will highlight the cultural, architectural, and environmental significance of this iconic American typology.The exhibition was organized by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, in partnership with DesignConnects and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Finalists were chosen to represent a wide array of architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, nonprofits, and individuals from across the U.S. and its territories, showcasing built work from the 21st century.The resulting portfolio demonstrates architectural and design merits while expressing the U.S. Pavilions PORCH theme, as well as that of the Biennale Architettura 2025, Intelligens: Nat...

The group of artists exhibiting at Desert X 2025 has been announced. The fifth edition of the site-specific art exhibition will be open from March 8 to May 11, 2025, at sites across the Coachella Valley. Curated by Artistic DirectorNeville Wakefieldand Co-curatorKaitlin Garcia-Maestas, Desert X 2025 reflects on the deserts deep time evolutions, revealing a profound reverence for the enduring spirit of this harsh yet resilient region that challenges us to glean wisdom from its vast knowledge, according to organizers.Eleven artists from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East will take part in the exhibition. Among the themes prevalent across the works are wilderness, indigenous futurism, design activism, colonial power asymmetries, and the role of emerging technologies in contemporary society.The land of Desert X is no longer the mythical and endless expanses of the American West but has come to include the effects of our ever-growing human presence, said Wakefield....

Architizer's 13th A+Awards features a suite of sustainability-focused categories recognizing designers that are building a greener industry and a better future. Start your entry to receive global recognition for your work!Mumbai is a city of contrasts: ancient yet avant-garde, prosperous yet poverty-stricken, swarming yet often serene. Unlike many other cities that are strictly dissected by class and creed, Mumbai is a blend from one street to the next, with land being far more important than location. The resulting architectural diversity, characterized by dense polarity, is captivating.The 19th century brought laborers to then Bombays flourishing docks and textile mills. An influx of people from all over the continent saw the city bursting at its seams, and make-shift neighborhoods were quickly erected to house the workers while long-term solutions were conceived in the form of chawls. Chawls are tenement buildings that are seemingly simple, utilitarian blocks densely packed along narrow lanes. These innovative buildings revolutionized communities in Mumbai, not only sheltering families under challenging conditions but also becoming a design testbed for creative architectural solutions, many of which continue to be replicated in community architecture to this day.Today, a century later, Mumbai has one of the most unequal distributions of land in the world, with about 60 percent of the citys population living in temporary structures that are built on about 8 percent of the total urban area. More than 20 million people live there a number that continues to grow. The citys pressing issue of density, which currently stands at approximately 83,660 people per square mile, urgently needs to be addressed, and it would seem that the once imaginative chawls will be the first to go. Conversations have hence intensified about whether a quintessential piece of Mumbais identity is about to be relegated to history.Udaykumar PR,Lohar Chawl,LTRoad,Mumbai panoramio (1),CC BY 3.0The chawls that emerged in the decades after the plague of 1896 were prompted by necessity. The Bombay Improvement Trust was formed to address overcrowding and public health crises, and it helped shape policies that led to quick, functional housing solutions. Mill owners and private investors soon adapted these guidelines to create multi-level buildings linked by shared corridors, communal lavatories and narrow balconies. While most early chawls had minimal decorative flourishes, many still exhibited thoughtful considerations. Materials such as brick, stone and wood permitted cross-ventilation in a climate notorious for high humidity. Sloping roofs deflected the monsoon rains that pummel the city from June to October, and covered walkways provided shaded pockets of interaction.Living space was often cramped, so daily life spilled out onto these semi-public zones. Residents found themselves cooking in stairwells, sewing in corridors or sleeping on balconies. These close-quarters encounters served as a constant thread connecting people who arrived from vastly different backgrounds. In many ways, the chawls were vertical villages in which personal privacy was scant, but social ties were strong. The enforced mingling seeded a culture of interdependence, bridging faith, language and class in a city whose population would eventually mushroom beyond all expectations.For observers of modern architecture, the chawls offer a window into grassroots design strategies. Architects frequently laud the extensive balconies and external corridors for enhancing airflow and creating shaded thresholds early predecessors to the brise-soleil or louvered faades seen in contemporary architecture. Ground-floor storefronts, common in many chawls, set a precedent for mixed-use formats that urban planners now champion as a way to nurture vibrant street life. Even the open-air corridors and shared terraces that appear in many sustainable housing developments echo longstanding chawl features.The World Towers by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, Mumbai, India | Image by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLPYet their significance was not limited to architectural characteristics. Social historians point to the chawls integral role in shaping Mumbais unique culture. The strict limits on personal space are frequently cited as catalysts for collective love affair with cinema that is so prevalent in the city. Old photos of mid-century movie theaters, packed with chawl dwellers eager to escape claustrophobic rooms, reveal just how important the big screen became; Bollywood boomed thanks to the communities looking for respite.As the citys industrial fortunes shifted spurred partly by the Great Bombay Textile Strike of 1982 and the gradual collapse of many mills the chawls fate also changed course. Industrial labor migration slowed, land values soared and rent controls kept many tenants paying negligible monthly sums. These factors combined to deter basic maintenance. Timber beams rotted, plumbing systems leaked and exteriors showed deep cracks While some residents managed to renovate individual properties, broader structural concerns became too costly for landlords bound to archaic rent regulations.In recent years, the state government has advocated for large-scale redevelopment, eyeing the potential for high-rise towers on land that is among the worlds most expensive. Residents, for their part, stand to gain larger apartments and updated amenities (at least in theory). Critics, however, see troubling precedents. Other slum rehabilitation and tenement-replacement initiatives in Mumbai have often delivered subpar construction, missed deadlines or saddled residents with hefty upkeep fees. Even if new apartments come with more floor space, high maintenance bills can dislodge longtime tenants accustomed to paying a fraction of that cost. The delicate balance of preserving affordable housing in a prime location, critics warn, may be lost in a push for profit.World One by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, Mumbai, IndiaIt is often noted that the disappearance of cheaper urban housing can hollow out a citys social fabric by forcing lower-income groups to relocate to remote suburbs. In the past, chawls provided a platform for what might be called everyday collisions: a teacher might live beside a dockworker, or a small shop owner might share a balcony with a mill mechanic. That adjacency chaotic, multifaceted and surprisingly functional often led to shared customs, new dialects and an informal support network that cut across class lines. Proponents of preservation argue that the new towers, built behind gates and managed by private security, risk eroding that communal dynamic.Of course, it is easy to view chawls through a purely romantic lens, ignoring the very real health and structural hazards. By modern standards, cramped living areas, limited privacy and aging infrastructures are less than ideal. Many chawls fail to accommodate basic contemporary needs like car parking, broadband wiring or in-unit sanitary facilities. Retrofitting them can be an expensive gamble, making redevelopment appealing to both residents (who hope for better living conditions) and developers (who see prime real estate). The resulting tension between heritage and progress, between intangible cultural identity and tangible economic gain is hardly unique to Mumbai, but it plays out with particular intensity in a city that famously churns out extremes of wealth and poverty side by side.Rupa Renaissance by Access Architects, Mumbai, IndiaAs it stands, few details can confirm whether the proposed towers will truly integrate the lessons and characteristics of the chawls. Government announcements typically focus on the number of floors, total square footage or projected costs. Meanwhile, original tenants navigate lengthy bureaucratic processes to secure fair relocation terms and fear the day they must move out. Until the new projects are completed, skepticism remains justified.In many ways, the chawls embody Mumbais defining characteristics: resilience, improvisation and a capacity to build communities within tight constraints. They may be perceived as antiquated, decaying and at odds with modern family structures. Still, they have left an undeniable mark on architectural thinking about passive climate control, efficient land use and socially oriented design. Whether that legacy will reemerge in the high-rises that replace them is yet to be seen.Architizer's 13th A+Awards features a suite of sustainability-focused categories recognizing designers that are building a greener industry and a better future. Start your entry to receive global recognition for your work!Top image: Udaykumar PR, Lohar Chawl, Kalbadevi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India panoramio (1),CC BY 3.0The post Mumbais Chawls: Why Indias Once Innovative Housing Solution Could Soon Disappear appeared first on Journal.

Microsoft has revealed the first wave of Game Pass titles and as previously announced, Far Cry New Dawn is out now for cloud, consoles, and PC. Its playable on Game Pass Standard/Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and will receive a 60 FPS update soon.Several other titles will become available for Standard on consoles starting February 5th, including Another Crabs Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and, surprisingly, Starfield (Xbox Series X/S). On February 6th, Madden NFL 25 will become playable through EA Play for Ultimate and PC Game Pass.February 13th sees the debut of Kingdom Two Crowns on Ultimate/Standard for cloud and console. Then theres arguably the biggest release for the service Obsidian Entertainments Avowed. Its available on February 18th for Ultimate and PC Game Pass on cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S (with reviews going live on February 13th).Several titles will also leave the service on February 15th, and its a significant list. Of course, Game Pass subscribers get a 20 percent discount if they want to keep any of them permanently. Check out the titles below:A Little to the Left (Cloud, Console, and PC)Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (Cloud, Console, and PC)EA Sports UFC 3 (Console) EA PlayIndivisible (Cloud, Console, and PC)Merge and Blade (Cloud, Console, and PC)Return to Grace (Cloud, Console, and PC)Tales of Arise (Cloud, Console, and PC)

2025 and beyond has some great games in store for fans of RPGs, right from new entries in long-forgotten franchises to exciting new IPs and much more. With this feature, we will be taking a look at 20 of the biggest RPGs that will be releasing in 2025 and beyond.Lost Soul AsideLost Soul Aside is currently in development at UtilZeroGames, and it revolves around saving your family and the larger world from the clutches of evil. With its fast-paced combat that revolves around stringing together a flurry of attacks and popping art direction, Lost Soul Aside is a game that definitely demands your attention. Its scheduled to come out sometime this year for PC and PS5.