The Latest from Rita Liao
Damus pulled from Apple’s App Store in China after two days
Damus, one of the fastest-growing Twitter alternatives, has been pulled from China’s App Store just two days after the app was approved by Apple. The app, which runs atop the Jack Dorsey-backed
China’s EV upstart Xpeng ready to take off with flying permit
Xpeng, a Chinese electric vehicle upstart, is gearing up to launch its eVTOL into the air as it secures a key regulatory green light. AeroHT, owned by Xpeng and Xpeng founder He Xiaopeng, just obtaine
Would Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT make a difference?
Baidu, China’s top search engine provider and robotaxi developer, is apparently working on its own counterpart to ChatGPT. The news, first reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, sent
China smartphone market slumps to 10-year low in 2022
After a decade of frantic growth, China’s smartphone market is hitting a speed bump as COVID-19 roils the world’s second-largest economy. The country’s smartphone shipments dropped 1
Share Creators wants to solve asset management mess for game developers
Finding a product-market fit isn’t always easy, but when you are the end-user experiencing a real pain point, the solution might be more obvious. That’s the case for newly funded Share Cre
Shein valuation reportedly plummets by a third as it seeks $3B
Shein, the fast fashion behemoth that has swept across the world, is raising a significant down round as the startup world braces for a funding crunch. The e-commerce platform known for jaw-dropping o
Wristcheck wants to make used luxury watches more affordable
In an age when almost everything can be bought online, watch resale is done in a surprisingly archaic way, namely, face-to-face with little price transparency. Wristcheck, a startup based out of Hong
Didi gets China’s approval to relaunch after 18-month security probe
Eighteen months after its app was suspended in China, ride-hailing giant Didi made a comeback on Monday. The move came as China showed signs of easing up its sweeping regulatory clampdown on the inter
Clouds might be scattering in China’s venture capital world
The outlook of investing in China is suddenly brightening up as the country gradually phases out its draconian zero-COVID policy, which has caused disruptions in businesses of all kinds and kept the c
Kleiner Perkins-backed Vylo thinks the future of news is video commentary
TikTok has revolutionized the way people consume and share information. Now a startup called Vylo wants to take the short video format a step further and let users share their thoughts about sports, c
This startup brings Southeast Asia’s vacant hospital rooms into the sharing economy
Uber and Airbnb have long been the poster children for the sharing economy. In other realms of society, entrepreneurs are also trying to match demand with untapped assets and services. HD, a startup b
How China is building a parallel generative AI universe
The gigantic technological leap that machine learning models have shown in the last few months is getting everyone excited about the future of AI — but also nervous about its uncomfortable conse
Alibaba CEO to oversee cloud arm following major server outage
When Alibaba’s former CEO Jack Ma passed the torch to Daniel Zhang, he established a system that regularly rotates executives to ensure the company always stays agile in the fast-changing intern
Baidu starts offering nighttime driverless taxis in China
Baidu, the Chinese internet giant that became known for its search engines, is making some big strides in autonomous driving. Starting this week, the public can ride its robotaxis in Wuhan between 7 a
As expats fled China’s zero-COVID, this developer built a sci-fi game for NetEase
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreigners have been leaving China in droves to escape the country’s strict “zero-COVID” restrictions, which had limited people’s
Salon software Mangomint raises $13M as it booms in post-COVID labor shortage
Ever needed to read your credit card information on the phone to make a massage appointment? The process is annoying, and it makes you wonder how safe it is to give a stranger your personal details. T
Crypto trader Amber raises $300M as it seeks protection for FTX-hit customers
Amber Group, a Sequoia- and Temasek-backed crypto trading firm, has closed a hefty $300 million Series C funding round as the collapse of FTX shakes the crypto world. The news, which the Singapore-bas
Lucid wants a slice of China’s crowded EV market
Lucid Motors, the publicly traded electric carmaker, is poised to enter China as it starts hiring in the world’s largest EV market. The California-based auto company is recruiting a dozen positi
As China relaxes zero-COVID, tech firms assume a larger role in fighting the virus
China’s abrupt easing of its zero-COVID policy last week has led to a spike in cases and rising fears of the virus. Over the last three years, authorities have used big data to monitor the movem
Renault China boss is making super-premium EVs that monitor your health
There’s an ever-growing list of wearables that track people’s health, but what about a vehicle that monitors one’s blood pressure and heart rate with smart sensors and algorithms? Th