“ChinAI #365: Around the Horn (26th episode)” by Jeffrey Ding

<p><strong>Featured links</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-358-around-the-horn-25th-episode" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">ChinAI #358</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HNM7_aWoqgQIitDcwJZmAw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Most Companion Robots Die by Day 30</a></li><li><a href="https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2026-07-01/doc-inifiaeq0896384.shtml?froms=ggmp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Release of AI Safety Benchmark Results for Agents (Claw-class) – Q2 2026 Edition</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/crcoyhZszN-Hle4aNQJcbg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">The First Shot in Domestic Compute for Training: Meituan’s LongCat-2.0 Officially Released</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3FtYxfJ7iTefX5333WXjQw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">American AI can no longer hide its ultimate ambition, giving China a major wake-up call</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YBxA0i-jlqmy61YHHHm0sw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">After hiding it for three months, Anthropic has removed hidden code that identified “Chinese AI”</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GjdPQ56_LoQ-dLVNUW7GHg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Doubao introduces paid tier, ranging from 68 to 5088 RMB: some people left but there are others who want the price to go up</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/J3WElkB5Qk_hRjTcCJRPHw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Zhipu vs. MiniMax is China’s projection of the Anthropic vs. OpenAI Rivalry</a></li><li><a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ySmPBPEhdzDQ6140dsa9eQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">The Disappearing Human: is AI taking over the Internet?</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">subscribe here</a><span>&nbsp;to support ChinAI under a&nbsp;</span><em>Guardian</em><span>/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).</span></p>

<p><span>Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at <a href="mailto:chinainewsletter@gmail.com">chinainewsletter@gmail.com</a> or on Twitter at&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/jjding99" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">@jjding99</a></p> <p>---</p>

<p><b>First published:</b><br/>

July 6th, 2026 </p>

<p><b>Source:</b><br/>

<a href="https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-365-around-the-horn-26th-episode?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-365-around-the-horn-26th-episode</a> </p>

<p>---</p>

<p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=jeffrey_ding&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>

<p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vckw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F634c73fc-853b-4e16-a7a4-d8a58c45cc2f_358x197.jpeg" target="_blank"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vckw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F634c73fc-853b-4e16-a7a4-d8a58c45cc2f_358x197.jpeg" alt="ESPN's "Around the Horn" logo" style="max-widt