China Opens First Humanoid Robot Retail Store
Chinese robotics manufacturer Unitree opened its first physical retail store on December 31 in Beijing, partnering with e-commerce giant JD.com to showcase humanoid robots including the G1 model and Go2 quadruped alongside hands-on demonstrations. The store, located at JD Mall in the Chaoyang district, marks a decisive shift from online-only sales to in-person experiences as […]
Alibaba Clones Voices from Three Seconds
Alibaba’s Qwen team released two breakthrough voice AI models on December 23 that fundamentally change voice cloning economics. Qwen3-TTS-VC-Flash clones voices from just three seconds of audio across 10 languages, while Qwen3-TTS-VD-Flash creates custom voices from text descriptions alone. Both models outperform ElevenLabs in critical benchmarks, positioning Alibaba to compete in the $5 billion USD […]
QuantWare’s 10,000-Qubit Chiplet Architecture Breaks Quantum Scaling Barrier
Dutch quantum hardware manufacturer QuantWare unveiled its VIO-40K chiplet architecture at the Q2B Silicon Valley conference on December 9, 2024, promising quantum processors with 10,000 qubits by 2028. The announcement represents a 100-fold increase over current industry capabilities, directly challenging the decade-long stagnation that has limited superconducting quantum processors to approximately 100 qubits. What Happened […]
Canadian Researchers Deploy AI Swarms to Clear Arctic Ice
Canadian scientists have developed autonomous vessel fleets that use reinforcement learning to maintain ice-free shipping channels in Arctic waters, addressing a critical limitation of traditional icebreakers that lose effectiveness as broken channels refreeze within hours. The National Research Council of Canada and Memorial University collaboration represents a significant step toward year-round navigation in Northern shipping […]