Pinduoduo’s e-commerce revenue is approaching Ali at an accelerated pace; Meituan “Cheetah” enters Hong Kong, and local rivals expand subsidies

Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1675

Pinduoduo’s e-commerce revenue is accelerating to approach Ali

While the two rivals were barely maintaining growth, Pinduoduo’s revenue and profits continued to soar in the first quarter, and its e-commerce advertising and transaction commission revenue was already equivalent to 62% of Ali’s during the same period. At the same time, the short-term negative financial impact of the company’s expansion of Temu has become more apparent.

  • Pinduoduo’s revenue in the first quarter was 37.637 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58%;
  • Online marketing services and other revenues were 27.244 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 50%, accounting for 73%;
  • Transaction service revenue was 10.392 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 86%, accounting for 27%;
  • During the same period, Alibaba’s China commercial retail customer management revenue was 60.27 billion yuan, and Pinduoduo was equivalent to 62% of Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce business revenue, which was the smallest quarterly gap between the two companies according to our statistics. However, we also noticed that in the first quarter, the proportion of Pinduoduo’s advertising revenue was about 5 percentage points less than that of the previous quarter, and this proportion went to the transaction commission income.
  • The operating cost was 11.125 billion yuan, and the growth rate was the highest in the past six quarters, reaching 55.4%;
  • The proportion of total operating expenses in revenue has not changed much, 19.582 billion yuan, accounting for 52% of revenue. In the fourth quarter of last year, it accounted for 54.6%. Among them, sales expenses were 16.259 billion yuan, accounting for more than 40% of revenue. Operating profit for the quarter was 6.9 billion yuan, three times that of the same period last year.

A big change in Pinduoduo’s performance meeting this quarter is the addition of co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen who took office in early April.

Chen Lei, chairman and co-CEO of Pinduoduo, first outlined the general performance, and then handed over the microphone to Zhao Jiazhen, and introduced that the two have worked closely together for more than ten years, saying that the new generation of leadership team is ready to take on more challenges. Zhao Jiazhen mentioned in the following speech that users’ willingness to consume has increased, platform promotions have increased, and social activities and so on.

Together, the two said “agriculture” at least 24 times – which is already a small number.

We introduced Zhao Jiazhen in early April, who graduated from South China University of Technology in Guangzhou with a major in e-commerce management (the school began to recruit e-commerce undergraduates in 2002). At this performance meeting, he spoke in Mandarin throughout the whole process, with a brisk tone, and added modal particles when reading the speech, such as “at the same time”, with a more obvious Guangdong accent.

Zhao Jiazhen took the initiative to mention the “destroyed store incident” a while ago (sellers paid for orders at Pinduoduo’s self-operated or possibly affiliated stores and chose “refund only”, which caused store operations to be hindered). He said it was “alienated industry competition. “.

When explaining the company’s competitiveness, Zhao said, “We have successfully shifted from marketing-driven to R&D-driven.” But in his speech a few minutes later, he also mentioned that facing the opportunity of consumption recovery, Pinduoduo has “organized more A large-scale promotional campaign with additional coupons and discounts.”

Management is still reluctant to say much about Temu. In the first quarter, Pinduoduo’s gross profit margin dropped to 70.44%. Considering the stability of Pinduoduo’s main website business and current profit performance, we have reason to believe that the additional cost mainly comes from Temu.

In the past month, Temu has launched 5 new sites, namely Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, and Austria, bringing the total to 15. The new site may have been launched recently, because we read the app store reviews, and before last week, there were quite a few users asking “ship to Austria please!”. On May 21st, Temu received a 4-star positive “can now ship to Portugal YAYYY”.

b37e58fb18a0ca9c415927fe877e332f.png

0db14cf2d5c30bf4275339208e50ea46.png

A user shared with us the Temu ad she saw on YouTube last night, and it still has a familiar plot and style.

The old site is still expanding rapidly. In mid-February this year, Pinduoduo started its comprehensive promotion through the “Super Bowl”. In the past month, the American website, which has been online for more than half a year, has added 60,000 comments, and the total number is close to 200,000. The Canadian website launched in February almost doubled to 13,600, and the British website launched at the end of March also has nearly 10,000 comments. . According to the minutes of a third-party consulting company, Temu’s GMV in the first quarter has reached nearly 10 billion yuan.

There has been a noticeable increase in discussions in the local media, and their latest concern is that Temu may replace the local “dollar store.” On the other hand, Amazon, which is regarded as Temu’s long-term goal, continues to tighten the supervision of sellers, and domestic e-commerce companies from AliExpress to TikTok e-commerce have learned from Temu’s “self-operated” model.

An independent website seller who sells jewelry and small commodities told us that the number of orders has decreased significantly recently, but he can’t say whether it is a big environmental problem or the impact of Temu. (Lin Guangying)

Meituan “Cheetah” enters Hong Kong, local rivals expand subsidies

In addition to “silly bear” (foodpanda) and “kangaroo” (Deliveroo), there is another “cheetah” (KeeTa) to deliver food – this is a joking name for several food delivery platforms by netizens in Hong Kong, China. KeeTa is Meituan’s new food delivery brand. It officially landed in Hong Kong, China this Monday. It first operated in the densely populated Mong Kok and Tai Kok Tsui districts. According to reports, more than 130 restaurants were launched on that day, mainly chain brands.

According to the data, KeeTa ranked first in the local free list of the Apple App Store on the first day of its launch, and ranked first in Google play the next day. It has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times in less than 3 days since it was launched.

From the on-site video, it can be seen that KeeTa has set up local push points under the office building and at the entrance of the store. The large posters highlight the eye-catching words such as “One-person canteen area with shipping fee starting at $60”. Code, invite pedestrians to download and register.

New users can get 300 Hong Kong dollar coupons, the most powerful one is 80 minus 50 discount coupons, in addition, there are 200 minus 50, 250 minus 50 coupons, no threshold 15 Hong Kong dollar coupons for one-person canteen area, free shipping for 3 coupons coupon. Invite newcomers and get another HK$50 voucher. In addition, KeeTa will randomly distribute coupons every day.

A mainland student studying in Hong Kong told Wanwan Finance that she used KeeTa this week to order her first takeaway order after coming to Hong Kong. After using the voucher, a set of “pickled fish + mutton skewers + rice + coke” only cost 65 Hong Kong dollars, and a meal in the school cafeteria costs forty or fifty. As the order took 50 minutes to arrive, KeeTa added a HK$10 voucher. She said that she had downloaded foodpanda and Deliveroo before, but there was no discount, and a meal basically cost hundreds of Hong Kong dollars, so she didn’t place an order in the end.

On social media, most of the feedback from netizens is good, mainly focusing on subsidies and delivery speed. A local financial anchor who claims to be a long-term shareholder of Meituan said that one of the highlights of KeeTa is the “punctuality guarantee” service – a no-threshold voucher with a subsidy of HK$10 to HK$100 according to the length of the overtime. Previously, local takeaways did not guarantee time, and overtime was very common. We have noticed that many media have emphasized the temperature of the meal in their evaluations.

Some media have calculated KeeTa’s subsidy cost. A platform shows that the original price of the package is 85 Hong Kong dollars, and the actual payment is 51 Hong Kong dollars after using 80 minus 50 coupons. The deliveryman for this order revealed that he could get a commission of 32.4 Hong Kong dollars (24.4 yuan basic service fee + 5 yuan service subsidy + 3 yuan on-time reward). If the merchant charges the dine-in price of 73 Hong Kong dollars (the local dine-in price is generally cheaper than the takeaway price), KeeTa will subsidize 54.4 Hong Kong dollars.

However, there are still experienced food delivery users who think that KeeTa “is not coming very fast, and its sincerity is mediocre”. Twenty thirty.

But foodpanda also failed to open up the situation. foodpanda, Deliveroo, and UberEats entered the Hong Kong market in 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively, and they all fought price wars. But after the subsidy ended, most users returned to dine-in. The aforementioned student also mentioned that if there is no discount in the future, he will still go downstairs to eat.

9da8ed6070dcb2b17d568ddc04a3092b.png

“Sing Tao Toutiao” research shows that after KeeTa announced its entry, some users feel that the other two food delivery platforms have significantly increased their subsidies.

The data shows that in 2018 and 2019, the growth rate of takeaway users in Hong Kong, China, has dropped to single digits, and the growth rate of revenue scale has been between 10% and 15%, while the growth rate of revenue in the Mainland is still over 40% in the same period. As of now, the takeaway transaction volume in Hong Kong accounts for less than 10% of the catering market, and nearly 30% in the mainland, and the penetration rate in major cities is even higher.

Many points of view point to the resistance to expensive human costs. At present, the minimum hourly wage in Hong Kong, China is HK$40 per hour, while the delivery staff earn about HK$30 for one order, and about HK$60 for delivering two orders per hour. In addition, the platform generally charges 20% to 30% of the takeaway commission for merchants, and merchants mostly pass the cost on to users, which is why local takeaway prices are often much more expensive than dine-in meals.

Founder Securities believes that the lack of users has a greater impact. According to their calculations, if the order volume and delivery efficiency are improved, the delivery staff can deliver 4 to 5 orders per hour, and the average delivery cost can be reduced to 17 Hong Kong dollars. On the other hand, merchants are also willing to give up a certain price if food delivery can bring significant growth. High order volume can also dilute fixed costs and reduce commission rates.

The more important difference still lies in the rich local food supply and dense restaurants, especially in urban areas, where there are restaurants just downstairs. A person who has lived in Hong Kong for many years told us that even when ordering food online, people usually choose take away. For users, the cost of self-pickup is lower, and the threshold for switching to takeaway is higher.

The industry believes that in the long run, only by reducing the cost of food delivery can the market be truly opened up. In addition to using algorithms to improve efficiency on the distribution side, KeeTa is also pushing for “one-person dining hall” – if the standardized set meal can gather scale and improve the efficiency of meal delivery, it may be able to drive merchants to reduce prices. (Lin Guangying intern Chang Junfei)

1b85c5b5d3bddc4fa71e81be18b6eb99.png

“Two Yang” climbed to the peak, those who are infected but not vaccinated can directly receive booster injections

On May 22, Zhong Nanshan said at a biomedical forum that based on the SEIRS model prediction, the second wave of the national new crown epidemic this year will be mainly caused by the Omicron XBB series strains, and the first infection peak is expected to appear in May. At the end of the month, the peak of infection is expected to be at the end of June, and the number of infections will reach 65 million per week.

Zhong Nanshan said that vaccination with inactivated vaccines or subunit protein vaccines, plus a mixed immunization of an infection within six months, has a certain protective effect on Omicron, but for the possible small peak of XBB infection, there are underlying diseases, Immunocompromised and elderly people need to be injected with new vaccines to prevent infection.

“Zhuang Shilihe”, the director of a Guangzhou medical department of Shengnuo and a well-known medical science blogger, said on his personal Weibo that for people who have completed 2 injections/3 injections + natural infection, according to official guidelines, it is considered that the next vaccination should be done 6 months after infection. One injection, but in theory, vaccination within 6 months is also safe and effective (current data are limited). If vaccination is necessary, it is recommended to use a vaccine containing Omicron antigen for booster injection . There are currently 4 types approved in China, namely Shenzhou Cell 4, Shiyao mRNA (doubtful), Fubitai 2 and Moderna 2 price.

The WHO stated in the revised COVID-19 vaccination guidelines in March this year that based on the risk of severe illness and death in different groups of people, combined with vaccine efficacy, cost-effectiveness, program factors and community acceptance, three levels of COVID-19 vaccines are prioritized. The user population, non-high-priority population does not need to continue to receive booster injections:

  • High-priority populations for use: the elderly, younger adults with comorbidities (such as diabetes and heart disease), immunocompromised patients (such as people living with HIV and transplant recipients, including children 6 months and older), pregnant women and Frontline health workers. An additional booster shot is recommended for this group of people, with an interval of 6 or 12 months from the previous booster shot;
  • Moderate priority population: healthy adults under 50 to 60 years of age without comorbidities, and children and adolescents with comorbidities. It is recommended that this group be vaccinated against the new crown vaccine and receive a booster shot. Additional booster needles are safe, but the public health returns are low, and no routine recommendations are made for this;
  • Low priority population: Healthy children and adolescents 6 months to 17 years. Given their low disease burden, countries need to reconsider whether to vaccinate this group.

At present, community health service centers in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chongqing and other places have successively delivered Shenzhou Cell 4-valent and CSPC mRNA vaccines against the Omicron strain. People who have “passed the sun” and have completed the basic immunization will be vaccinated with the booster vaccine.

On April 10, the Comprehensive Team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council released the “Vaccination Work Plan for Responding to the Recent Novel Coronavirus Infection Epidemic”, which divides the target population of vaccination into two categories: one is the uninfected population; the other is the infected population. And the basic immunization population has not been completed. The latter can be vaccinated with a single dose of vaccine 3 months after infection, and the Shenzhou Cell New Coronary 4-valent vaccine and CSPC New Coronary mRNA vaccine are preferred.

Regarding the reason for the division of the population, the National Health and Medical Commission explained that the immune protection effect of people who have been infected but have not completed basic immunization, due to insufficient antigenic stimulation induced by vaccines or viruses, is also significantly weaker than the mixed immunity obtained by infection after completing basic immunization , Need to fill the gap in immunity level through vaccination. (Qiu Hao)

How will Taobao fight this year’s “price power” campaign?

In February this year, Taobao identified five major battles – live broadcast, private domain, content, local retail and price power. Among them, “price power” is a new business this year, and the person in charge Zhang Sheng (nicknamed Zou Yan) was the previous product manager of Taote.

On May 20, the channel “Taobao Good Price”, which focuses on price competitiveness, was officially launched. Zhang Sheng mentioned in an interview with “LatePost” and other organizations yesterday that this is the business he has invested the most in the months since he returned to Taobao.

“Taobao Good Price” used to be a “99 special sale” in the grayscale test among some users. The main supply is mainly factory goods from directly-operated stores. Now it includes not only factory goods, but also Taobao’s “10 billion subsidy” And “Juhuasuan” and other brand special sale goods. Zhang Sheng said that the purpose of “Taobao Good Price” is to present cheap goods scattered everywhere on Taobao in a centralized manner.

In 2019, Taobao upgraded Juhuasuan to a window of “Quality Benefits Economy”. At that time, the channel included Juhuasuan and Tiantian Special Sales, etc., and also mainly emphasized cost performance, which was a business position against Pinduoduo. Zhang Sheng said that this “Taobao Good Price” is different from the previous ones in that it has migrated back Taote’s ability and experience in operating the sinking market and the accumulated supply in the past.

Specifically, Taobao’s relatively successful marketing method of “N yuan N pieces” and Taofactory’s factory goods will become Taobao’s new means of price competition.

In the past, Taobao directed its users to “Taote” and operated its low-cost business independently. The person in charge Wang Hai (nicknamed Qigong) once said that a user can use both Taobao and Taote. Today, Taobao has once again become the main position of the price power battle. Zhang Sheng said that because they found that there are also a large number of sinking users on Taobao, but there were no good operation methods and supplies in the past, “this is a pity.”

Taobao implements the guideline of “price power” in different businesses. In addition to the fixed channel “Taobao Good Price”, they also adjusted the search logic accordingly and increased the proportion of price factors. In the past, it was difficult for users to find cheap products in the search, or it took a long time to find them. Now the search results will present cheap and expensive products together.

In order to encourage the emergence of more price-competitive products, Taobao also launched a “five-star price power” merchant operation background this year to provide more traffic and operational scenarios for price-competitive merchants. They call on merchants to take the initiative Sign up for investment promotion similar to “Taobao Good Price”.

“Price power” and the other four major battles all serve the strategy “from transaction to consumption” proposed by Dai Shan in 2022. This means that keeping users on Taobao is more important than making users buy more things. Compared with the total turnover, Zhang Sheng also pays more attention to user indicators, including how many users will visit their new channel, the frequency of user visits, the frequency of repurchases, and so on.

He believes that paying attention to user indicators is a change to return to common sense, and everything can be achieved only when users stay. “Even if he comes today and does not generate transactions, we welcome them all.”

In 2022, Taobao’s monthly average daily active users will be between 350 million and 400 million, which is 20 million to 60 million more than the competition. Re-attracting users is indeed the most important thing for Taobao.

Zhang Sheng announced that during the “618” period this year, they will distribute 1 million items purchased for 1 yuan to users every day, and the value of these products is up to 200 yuan. (Zhu Yingli)

Tech Weekly丨Intensive action by technology companies: Let more people use the new AI

According to statistics from the traffic monitoring website SimilarWeb, in April this year, the number of visits to the ChatGPT website was 1.76 billion, which is already close to that of search engines Baidu and Yandex. Now, OpenAI hopes that more people will be able to use ChatGPT.

Following the launch of its iOS app in the US last week, OpenAI expanded its mobile app to more than 30 countries and regions including Japan, France, Canada, the UK, India, and Brazil this week. The Andriod version will be launched next.

OpenAI says this is another step toward its mission to turn advanced research into useful tools that empower people and make tools easier to use.

A number of other big companies took similar action this week, expanding the big model into more products and more people:

  • Microsoft extended ChatGPT to the Windows operating system, connected Bing to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and opened up a plug-in system with OpenAI to jointly build an artificial intelligence ecosystem.
  • Google launched an artificial intelligence search revision test in the United States and announced that it will use generative artificial intelligence to transform the advertising business. When a user searches, Google’s big model generates targeted ad headlines based on the search keywords.
  • Adobe released a beta version of Photoshop with built-in AI. Users only need to enter text, and it can automatically modify pictures. Adobe said the new feature will be fully rolled out in Photoshop in the second half of this year.

90f076b611432b741493c85cf50c1116.gif

Photoshop is testing artificial intelligence capabilities that can retouch images based on text. Source: Adobe.

In addition, Meta continues to open source new artificial intelligence models, leveraging the open source community to expand its influence. Musk also talked again about how he caught up with the progress of companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft and Google-combining the Twitter he controls, Tesla and the X.AI he founded.

Nvidia’s financial expectations can be used as a reference for how aggressive the technology company’s actions are. Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun said that after the release of ChatGPT at the end of last year, the company’s high-computing GPUs have been in full production and have significantly increased upstream production capacity.

The chip company, which provides computing power for artificial intelligence models, expects revenue in the second fiscal quarter to reach approximately US$11 billion, a year-on-year increase of over 60%, which is 1.5 times the average analyst estimate. Financial guidance that exceeded market expectations pushed Nvidia’s stock price up 24%, just one step away from trillions of dollars. (He Qianming)

OTHER NEWS

Chinese and US commerce ministers meet in Washington.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, on May 25, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with US Secretary of Commerce Raimondo during his trip to the United States to participate in the APEC Trade Ministers Meeting. The two sides conducted candid, professional and constructive exchanges on Sino-US economic and trade relations and economic and trade issues of common concern. The Chinese side expressed major concerns about the US’s economic and trade policy towards China, semiconductor policy, export control, and foreign investment review. The two sides agreed to establish communication channels to maintain and strengthen exchanges on specific economic and trade concerns and cooperation matters.

The transaction volume of second-hand housing in Beijing is expected to continue to decline in May.

According to Beijing Business Daily and Zhuge Data Research Center, as of May 24, 9,599 second-hand residential properties in Beijing had been sold, down 11.8% from the same period in April and 40% from March. Analysts said that April and May are the off-season, and it is expected that about 12,000 units will be sold throughout May, which is still below the level of 2020 and 2021. On the one hand, the confidence of home buyers is insufficient. In addition, the notice issued earlier this month to encourage the reduction of intermediary fees has also increased the wait-and-see mood.

The domestically produced large aircraft C919 will make its maiden flight this Sunday.

According to the data of Fei Chang Zhun App, China Eastern Airlines’ first commercial flight C919 is expected to depart from Shanghai Hongqiao to Capital Airport at 10:45 am this Sunday. The flight number is MU9191 and the planned flight time is 2 hours and 25 minutes. The C919 is manufactured by COMAC, with a seat class of 158 to 168 seats and a flight range of 4075 to 5555 kilometers. China Eastern Airlines and COMAC signed an aircraft purchase contract in March 2021, becoming the first airline to launch the C919. According to the agreement, China Eastern Airlines will introduce five C919 aircraft in the first batch, and received the first delivered C919 in December last year.

Sanya: The Tianya Haijiao Tourist Area will be open for free from June 1.

On May 26, the Sanya Municipal Government announced that starting from June 1, the Tianya Haijiao Tourist Area will be open to tourists and citizens free of charge. Citizens and tourists can search for “Tianya Haijiao Tourist Area” through online platforms such as WeChat, Meituan, and Alipay, click on the “0 yuan to buy tickets” link, and enter the park with valid ID cards after making an appointment in advance.

Helen’s first overseas store settled in Singapore, not taking the low-price route.

The domestic affordable bistro Helens opened its first overseas store in Singapore on May 18. It is located on the famous tourist shopping street Orchard Road, where the first overseas stores of Luckin and HEYTEA are opened. A customer shared the price list, showing that a pint (about 473 ml) of draft beer costs about S$13 (68 yuan), and a serving of French fries costs S$8.9 (47 yuan). Compared with local taverns, the price has no obvious advantage, but you can bring your own food.

The Chinese market drives Ralph Lauren to continue to grow.

In the first quarter of this year, Ralph Lauren’s revenue in the Chinese market increased by more than 30% year-on-year, significantly reversing the company’s decline in the North American market (cut 2.8%). Because many luxury goods companies such as LV, Gucci, and Coach have recently reported weak demand in the United States, analysts generally expect Ralph Lauren’s revenue to decline in the first quarter, but the strong performance of the Chinese market still helped its overall revenue increase by 1% to 1% year-on-year. $1.54 billion.

Chanel plans to raise prices in September to cover rising costs and smooth exchange rate differences.

In March, Chanel bags raised prices by an average of 8% globally, and executives said another price hike could come in September. According to incomplete statistics, Chanel has raised prices nine times in the past three years. A medium flap bag currently costs 9,700 euros, nearly a quarter more than it was a year and a half ago. However, Chanel said that the price increase is due to rising costs, and it is also adjusted according to changes in exchange rates in different regions to reduce the price difference. Last year, Chanel’s revenue increased by 17% year-on-year to US$17.2 billion, half of which came from price increases and the other half from increased sales.

Gap’s losses have narrowed sharply, and it plans to save $550 million a year by layoffs.

Gap’s net sales in the first quarter of this year fell 5.7% year-on-year to US$3.28 billion, with a net loss of US$18 million, compared with US$162 million in the same period last year. Thanks to reduced promotions and air freight, gross margins have improved significantly, and inventory has also decreased by 27% from the same period last year. Since September last year, Gap has cut more than 2,300 jobs in two rounds of layoffs, with a quarter of headquarters positions reduced and a CEO replaced. Gap expects to save $550 million in annual layoffs, and the organization has become more flexible.

Consumers cut back on unnecessary spending, and retailers’ profits were hurt.

Costco’s sales and profit performance in the latest quarter missed market expectations due to weak sales of high-margin big-ticket items such as home furnishings, jewelry and electronics. But membership-only warehouse supermarkets like Costco and Sam’s are still growing sales and showing more resilience than other retailers.

Dollar Tree, which focuses on low-priced items, is in a tougher situation. Dollar Tree expects inventory losses and an unfavorable sales mix to continue throughout the year and cut its profit forecast as high inflation, rising costs and poor market conditions for big-ticket commodities are simultaneously hurting the company’s performance. In the most recent quarter, Dollar Tree’s gross margin slipped 3.4 percentage points year-over-year.

TikTok is testing the chatbot Tako in markets such as the Philippines.

On May 25 local time, TikTok said that in order to help users get a better content recommendation experience, it has tested a chatbot called Tako in markets such as the Philippines. Tako is placed at the top of the right column of TikTok, higher than the user avatar, likes, comments and other buttons. It’s unclear which generative AI tool Tako is using behind it, or if its recommendations are governed by its own algorithms. The Tako beta will initially be available only to adult users, the company said.

Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink has been approved to start human trials.

On May 25, local time, Neuralink tweeted that it has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and can start the first human clinical trial. The specific details of the trial, such as the recruitment target and opening time, will be announced soon. Neuralink experiments require implanting a brain chip into a human body, using thousands of tiny electrodes embedded in the brain to read signals from neurons and transmit them to a computer. Musk said that its initial application may be to restore sight and hearing to the blind or deaf, or restore motor function to the paralyzed.

His longer-term goal is to cure a series of diseases including obesity, autism, depression, etc., as well as realize web browsing and telepathy. Before issuing the experimental approval, the FDA asked Neuralink to explain whether the implanted electrodes and other small parts and wires have the risk of displacement in the brain, and how to safely remove them without damaging the brain tissue. Late last year, Musk said he was so confident the devices were safe that he would be willing to implant them in his own children.

OpenAI CEO said that if the EU over-regulates it may withdraw from the market.

Altman traveled across Europe this week, meeting with dignitaries from France, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries to discuss the prospect of AI. However, he only canceled a visit to Brussels, where the EU headquarters is located, because the EU is developing strict AI laws. Altman said that the current EU AI draft is suspected of over-regulation, and the company will try its best to comply, but if it fails to do so, it may cease operations. Some EU officials who participated in the drafting of the bill said that Altman should not threaten the EU, the legal text does not accept bargaining, and if OpenAI cannot comply, then it is not suitable for the European market.

LVMH’s first airport lounge opens in Qatar, including lounges and restaurants.

The first airport lounge owned by the LVMH Group opens at Qatar Airport. The lounge is located on the top floor of the LVMH store at the airport and is decorated with designer furniture. Next door is the supporting restaurant, which is managed by a Michelin three-star chef and features local ingredients. Since 2020, LVMH has landed 9 gourmet projects, including pop-up stores, permanent restaurants in stores, Tokyo chocolate shops, etc. LVMH also plans to transform its headquarters in Paris into a hotel.

816cdaa9f9a622b5206074bd7ca62986.png

This article is transferred from: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1675
This site is only for collection, and the copyright belongs to the original author.