AI Governance & Openness: Xi Jinping used WAIC in Shanghai to push a people-centered, open-source AI path and warn against any single country dominating AI rules, while China released a new international AI cooperation case collection and a Shanghai-based AI governance body with 29 founding nations. AI Regulation: China rolled out a nationwide ban on AI-powered virtual companions, forcing platforms to suspend services. Frontier AI Shockwaves: Moonshot AI launched Kimi K3, an open-weight, multimodal model it says can handle up to a million tokens; the move rattled US tech markets and intensified the open-vs-closed AI race. AI in Everyday Devices: At WAIC, firms showcased “agentic” AI phones, but access limits from big app platforms show the control battle ahead. AI for Industry & Data: China said it has built about 120,000 high-quality datasets and highlighted “AI Plus” applications; meanwhile, smaller factories are adopting agentic tools faster than large enterprises. Tech Hardware Breakthrough: Tsinghua researchers reported a method to 3D-print complex optical structures in 0.6 seconds, aiming to speed photonic chip manufacturing for next-gen computing. Robotics & STEM: WAIC featured quadruped riding robots, and Beijing hosted the 25th China University Robot Competition with humanoid and quadruped challenges. Global Tech Ties: China highlighted AI cooperation with partners worldwide, including an “AI Plus” Olympic assistant case powered by Alibaba Cloud. Business/Policy Spillover: Hungary announced tougher EU-aligned environmental and tax rules for batteries and EVs, likely hitting Chinese manufacturers in the EU supply chain. Science Beyond Tech: Scientists reported a new entomopathogenic fungus species found in South America, expanding knowledge of insect-fungus life cycles.