“ChinAI #376: Around the Horn (27th episode)” by Jeffrey Ding

<p><strong>Featured links</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-365-around-the-horn-26th-episode" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">ChinAI #365</a></li><li><a href="https://i.ifeng.com/c/8wrmVQRRBwY" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">My “Tier-5” hometown became a Token Capital</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/U26n44pdNPbRFZA6eWDYVA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Using AI for National Day travel: the first wave of users feel let down</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8YV5mDAqpEdeJy6ggD_qUg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Why do Kimi and DeepSeek appear in the same model configuration?</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DaoySGpX1iunm44DFWWneA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">BAT giants redo AI pre-training to fix the “Dirty Data” pitfall</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5NWVUZA6GZnaAh-NXpnazA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Alibaba DAMO Academy’s Medical AI, piecing together a decades-long picture</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/finDwlosNkRSSstuKlwQbg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Jev Dethroned: Chinese open-source decision model StartLux takes top spot</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/e-rihfNStS5aDCMKKqhg_Q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Research Report on Development of the Token Economy (2026)</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cwlSRFJW1fIJHHoDGfnW-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">In the US-China AI race, the deciding factor isn’t compute, it’s another thing</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OwNuRA460BoYfWekWpJDmg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">What happens when AI employees join the workforce?</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FXaXs1vFXy3sG8d11TxmSQ?poc_token=HKa_wmqjU_PRfHmzpy6vKp9Qy_Pvkw8fw_61Tb_a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Ban on AI-Human “Romantic Relationships”: New rules on minors’ internet use to tighten controls on virtual companions</a></li></ul>

<p><strong>Thank you for reading and engaging</strong></p>

<p>These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.</p>

<p><span>Check out the archive of all past issues&nbsp;</span><a href="https://chinai.substack.com/archive" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">here</a><span>&nbsp;&amp; please&nbsp;</span><a href="https://chinai.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">subsc