China News by Thebittimes.Com

In a sweeping move to embed artificial intelligence as a cornerstone of economic and societal development, Beijing has unveiled its most ambitious long‑term plan yet, aiming for over 70% integration of AI across key sectors by 2027, rising to more than 90% by 2030. The strategy, known as “AI Plus”, envisages AI as essential infrastructure, comparable to the transformative effect of the internet in previous decades. Integration Across Six Key Sectors The “AI Plus” initiative lays out a clear roadmap: by 2027, smart devices and AI agents should be widely deployed across six focal areas, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, public governance, consumer services, and international cooperation, with usage rates exceeding 70%. By 2030, Beijing aims not only to reach 90% integration but to elevate the “intelligent economy” as a driving force behind national growth. AI as Foundational Infrastructure Government documents and state d...

In what would be a major development for both the company and the cryptocurrency market, Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly discussing the possibility of integrating stablecoins into its operations in a renewed crypto push. Indeed, the tech giant is exploring the concept three years after abandoning it, according to a Fortune report. The landscape of digital assets and their acceptance on a mainstream basis has certainly shifted in recent years. Moreover, it reached a new level in 2025. With the arrival of US President Trump, favorable regulation is expected to pass this year. Subsequently, it is just another step toward making the US a “Bitcoin superpower,” in alignment with the administration’s hopes. Source: Investopedia Also Read: Meta Platforms (META) AI Outperforms: Is Stock a Clear May Buy? Meta May Soon Introduce Stablecoins in Renewed Crypto Push Social media giant Meta Platforms has always sought to be at the forefront of technology. It had been hyper-focuse...

This AMA primarily focused on the relationship between Conflux and 0G Labs, discussing 0G Labs’ high valuation, fundraising structure, technical direction, and community concerns over transparency. 0G CTO (formerly Conflux CTO) Ming Wu and 0G Labs CEO Michael Heinrich provided detailed explanations about 0G Labs’ origins, fundraising details, technical roadmap, and its collaboration with Conflux. Community members raised concerns about 0G Labs’ high valuation, transparency in funding commitments, and future revenue model. In response, Michael and Ming Wu argued that 0G Labs’ valuation is based on its long-term vision and market potential, and that its fundraising structure aligns with industry standards. The AMA also touched on changes in the Conflux team, discussions about the Yao Class background, and 0G Labs’ privacy-preserving technology. 0G Labs (Zero Gravity Labs) is a startup focused on the intersection of crypto and AI, aiming to build infrastructure for decentralized AI system...

The experiment demonstrated that CBDCs could be wrapped to purchase NFTs on blockchains such as Ethereum. Mastercard has completed a trial involving wrapping central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on different blockchains, similar to wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) and wrapped Ether (wETH). According to the October 12 announcement, the trial was conducted with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the country's Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre CBDC, along with participation from Cuscal and Mintable. In a live environment, Mastercard said the solution allowed a CBDC owner to purchase a nonfungible token (NFT) listed on Ethereum. "The process “locked” the required amount of a pilot CBDC on the RBA’s pilot CBDC platform and minted an equivalent amount of wrapped pilot CBDC tokens on Ethereum," the payment processor wrote.  "A pre-requisite of the test transaction was that the Ethereum wallets of both the buyer and seller, as well as the NFT marketplace smart...

The app is expected to cease operations on March 16, 2023. Digital asset platform Bakkt has announced its plans to shift its focus to B2B technology solutions. The company said it will soon be sunsetting its consumer-facing app, which was designed to give users the ability to utilize their digital assets in different ways. The app, launched in March 2021, offered a user-friendly experience that brought together various digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, loyalty points, and gift cards. Despite the discontinuation of its consumer-facing app, current Bakkt App users will still have access to their crypto and cash holdings through a new web-based platform, available on all devices. According to Bakkt, users can still check their crypto balances and obtain transaction reports for tax purposes. The app is expected to cease operations on March 16, 2023.  Gavin Michael, President & CEO of Bakkt, emphasized the company's commitment to providing the best solutions to their p...

More than 10,000 delegators have since joined the blockchain indexing network. According to data provided to Cointelegraph on Dec. 15, network growth still appears to be strong for Blockchain indexer The Graph (GRT). Launched two years ago, The Graph Network allows developers to easily search, index , use and publish data from public blockchains.  From Nov. 2021 to Nov. 2022, the total number of developers on The Graph (both active and inactive) increased by 145% to 38,000. During the same period, average GRT query fees per month increased by 1,191% to 354,000, while total lifetime GRT queries on the decentralized network increased by 984% to 5.2 billion. Finally, total subgraphs, or proxies for applications, increased by 122% to 641 on the decentralized network in the same period. Since the network launch ed, over 200 indexer s, 10,000 delegators, and 2,500 curators have been onboarded to the blockchain. Over 500 subgraphs migrated from the original hosted service to the fully de...

An AI chatbot alleged Ripple can secretly control its blockchain through an undisclosed backdoor in the network's code and has been ridiculed by the firm's CTO. Ripple’s chief technology officer has responded to a conspiracy theory fabricated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT, which alleges the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is somehow being secretly controlled by Ripple. According to a Dec. 3 Twitter thread by user Stefan Huber, when asked a series of questions regarding the decentralization of Ripple’s XRP Ledger, the ChatGPT bot suggested that while people could participate in the governance of the blockchain, Ripple has the “ultimate control” of XRPL. Asked how this is possible without the consensus of participants and its publicly-available code, the AI alleged that Ripple may have “abilities that are not fully disclosed in the public source code.” At one point, the AI said “the ultimate decision-making power” for XRPL “still lies with Ripple Labs” and the company could mak...

This week NFT Steez spoke to award winning artist Victor Solomon about basketball, the Metaverse, Web3 and his unique NFT collection. On Dec. 2, NFT Steez hosts Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond chatted with Victor Solomon to discuss his journey into bridging his in-real-life artwork into NFTs and how he cultivates the community and culture that surrounds it.  Solomon's work centers around basketball, not just the object, but the sport itself. For Solomon, the inspiration for his work comes from his early childhood of wanting to play hockey, a sport that was not accessible for him, and his eventual discovery of basketball which he discovered to be more accommodating. Solomon said: "Basketball was such an inspirational platform for me since there's no barrier to entry." Solomon says that the open nature of basketball is an "incredible parallel for everything that's happening in Web3" and throughout the episode he explains the symbiotic relationship he has ...

According to the CEO, the exchange grew too fast to accommodate the fast-growing crypto ecosystem Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced on Nov 30, that it has made “one of the hardest decisions” to cut down its global workforce by approximately 1,100 people, making up approximately 30% of its total workforce , amid current market conditions. According to the CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell, Kraken had to triple its workforce due to the fast-growing crypto ecosystem, and the current pullback takes the company’s team size back to where it was 12 months ago.  Powell shared in a tweet; "Macro was already tough and we held out but recent industry woes diminished near-term optimism about a crypto bound." Rough day at @krakenfx. Headcount rolled back 12 mos. Macro was already tough and we held out but recent industry woes diminished near-term optimism about a crypto rebound. Better positioned now. Glad we were able to take good care of our former colleagues. Been a privile...