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In this photo illustration the Chinese technology firm Tencent logo seen on an Android mobile device with People’s Republic of China flag in the background.
Budrul Chukrut | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Chinese technology giants are looking to make changes to their business models and working practices in order to preempt moves by regulators as authorities crackdown on the once free-wheeling sector.

In the past year, regulators have introduced new rules in areas from anti-monopoly for internet companies to data security, targeting large tech firms.

And punishment has come swiftly. Ant Group’s record-breaking initial public offering was pulled by regulators in November, while Alibaba was slapped with a $2.8 billion fine as a result of an anti-monopoly probe.

Ride-hailing giant Didi meanwhile, became the subject of a cybersecurity review days after its massive U.S. IPO. And China’s top cyberspace regulator ordered app stores this month to suspend Didi from being downloaded.

With regulators breathing down tech companies’ necks, corporations have looked to make moves to appease authorities.

Tencent this month has looked to tighten up its patrol of minors playing games. According to Chinese regulations, minors are banned from playing online games between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Tencent, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, said there are cases of kids using adult accounts to play games.

To counter that, the company will require the gamer to do a facial recognition scan on their phone to verify if they are an adult.

Over the past few years, China’s government has been concerned about video game addiction and how it could damage children’s health. In 2018, regulators froze video game approvals in China over concerns of violence in some titles as well as potential addiction and rising cases of myopia. Games in China need to be approved by censors in order to be released and monetized.

Tencent appears to be getting ahead of any further regulatory action with its latest moves.

Anti-monopoly focus

In February, regulators released anti-monopoly rules for internet platforms. Beijing is concerned about the size and power of China’s technology companies which have grown into some of the world’s largest, broadly unencumbered by regulation.

The focus of the Alibaba probe, which concluded in April and resulted in a $2.8 billion fine, was a practice that forces merchants to choose one of two platforms to sell their goods on.

Alibaba and Tencent have both effectively built up walls around their products. For example users can’t use Tencent’s WeChat Pay service on Alibaba’s Taobao e-commerce site.

But it appears both Tencent and Alibaba could be looking to get ahead of potential further antitrust action.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Alibaba and Tencent are looking to loosen up some of these blocks on each others’ products. This could include allowing WeChat Pay as an option on Alibaba’s shopping services.

“Such measures of self-regulation would be ahead of the regulation curve, as Tencent often is – and Alibaba hasn’t been,” Neil Campling, head of technology, media and telecoms research at Mirabaud Securities Limited, said in a note on Wednesday.

996 work culture

Technology companies are also trying to make changes to the long-standing practice of grueling work hours known as 996.

This refers to employees working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m, six days a week. Alibaba founder Jack Ma once called the 996 culture a “huge blessing,” but it has faced intense criticism.

On Tuesday, Ling Zhenguo, a member of China’s top political advisory body known as the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, wrote an op-ed in the entity’s official newspaper, apparently criticizing the 996 culture.

The internet economy should put “people at the center” shouldn’t link “every profit made with every hard working minute of employees,” according to a CNBC translation of the Mandarin article.

“We must be clearly aware that it’s in contrast to the market economy with Chinese characteristics to regard people’s legs as wheels and hands as robots,” Ling added, effectively saying that humans should be treated as humans.

Ling’s article highlights how 996 work culture could be targeted next by Beijing.

But technology companies have already begun to tweak their practices.

Last week, TikTok-owner ByteDance said that from Aug. 1, it was ending the practice of “big week, small week.” This is where workers would work every other Sunday and get paid. Short-video app Kuaishou also canceled this policy last month, according to local media.

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Affirm’s stock soars 15% on earnings, revenue beat

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Affirm's stock soars 15% on earnings, revenue beat

Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and chief executive officer of financial technology company Affirm, arrives at the Sun Valley Resort for the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Affirm shares rose 15% in extended trading on Thursday after the provider of buy now, pay later loans reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Here’s how the company did versus LSEG consensus estimates:

  • EPS: 20 cents vs. 11 cents estimated
  • Revenue: $876 million vs. $837 million estimated

Revenue climbed 33% in the period from $659 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Gross merchandise volume rose 43% to $10.4 billion from $7.2 billion a year ago.

Affirm reported net income of $69.2 million, or 20 cents a share, after recording a loss a year earlier of $45.1 million, or 14 cents a share.

 “This consistent execution led Affirm to achieve operating income profitability in FQ4’25 – right on the schedule we committed to a year ago,” the company said in its shareholder letter.

For the first quarter, Affirm said revenue will be between $855 million and $885 million, while gross merchandise volume will be $10.1 billion to 10.4 billion.

Shares of Affirm were up 31% this year before the after-hours pop, topping the Nasdaq’s 12% gain.

Affirm, which went public in 2021, faces growing competition in e-commerce. It has partnerships with Amazon and Shopify, but Walmart recently shifted to competitor Klarna, which is expected to go public in the near future. Last year, Affirm announced a deal with Apple.

WATCH: Affirm posts earnings and revenue beat

Affirm posts earnings and revenue beat for Q4

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Tesla FSD turns off more U.S. consumers than its attracts, survey finds

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Tesla FSD turns off more U.S. consumers than its attracts, survey finds

Elon Musk reacts during a press event with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured), at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

Elon Musk’s fervent promotion of Tesla‘s self-driving technology isn’t doing much to win over prospective buyers.

According to a new survey, more U.S. consumers say that Tesla’s FSD, or Full Self-Driving (Supervised) systems, would push them away from the brand rather than drawing them to it.

The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report for August, published by political consulting firm Slingshot Strategies, polled 8,000 Americans. Only 14% of those surveyed said FSD would make them more likely to buy a Tesla, while 35% said the technology would make them less likely to purchase one.

The remaining 51% said the availability of FSD would make no difference to them in terms of their car buying decisions. Nearly half of consumers surveyed by Slingshot said they think FSD technology should be illegal.

For Tesla, the troubling results land in the middle of a sales slump resulting from an aging lineup of electric vehicles and increased competition from rivals. There’s also reputational damage in response to Musk, his incendiary political rhetoric, work with the Trump administration and support of Germany’s far-right AfD party.

Sales of Tesla cars in Europe plunged 40% in July from a year earlier, the seventh consecutive month of declines.

In the robotaxi market, Tesla is lagging Alphabet-owned Waymo, and Baidu’s Apollo Go. It’s now in the early stages of testing a ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, with hopes to reach more cities this year. Cars in Austin have human supervisors on board, while those in San Francisco have drivers at the wheel.

Musk, the world’s richest person, has said the future of Tesla hangs on its ability to deliver autonomous vehicles and related services. He recently said a new variant of the Model Y, which launched in China, won’t “start production in the U.S. until the end of next year,” and “might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America.”

Tesla sales fall 40% in Europe as Chinese EV rival BYD's triple

For now, Tesla still relies on EV sales for the vast majority of its revenue, though Musk has touted FSD as one of the company’s big advantages over competitors.

Last month, executives suggested that Tesla has a market education problem when it comes to driving adoption of FSD.

“The vast majority of people don’t know it exists,” Musk said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “And it’s still like half of Tesla owners who could use it, haven’t tried it even once.”

Musk said he would start telling customers about FSD when they bring their cars in for service, and would begin reaching out to drivers, sending them videos of how it works.

Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said on the July earnings call that people who subscribe to the premium FSD option get something like a “personal chauffeur” for about $3.33 a day.

The version of FSD Supervised that Tesla sells today is available to owners for $99 per month or an up-front purchase. The system gives users a limited set of self-driving capabilities on residential and city streets.

On Thursday, Tesla sent out a promotion offering 0% APR financing for customers ordering a new Model 3 by Sept. 1, as long as they add FSD Supervised to their order, or transfer it from their previously owned Tesla.

‘Holding AV manufacturers responsible’

Musk has said in posts on X that FSD can “can operate in all conditions,” will “save lives” and will be a “life-changing product” for many people. He’s also shared user-generated videos showing Tesla owners using FSD without their hands on the wheel.

However, in owners manuals, Tesla lists many conditions in which FSD Supervised may not be reliable, and warns users to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, and be ready to take over steering or braking.

Among the subset of survey respondents actively looking to buy a fully electric vehicle, only 20% said they were more likely to buy a Tesla because of FSD, while 33% said they were less likely. Evan Roth Smith, Slingshot’s head of research, said a lack of clarity and honesty in the company’s marketing could be a factor.

Most consumers polled by the firm want clear and strong regulations in the U.S. governing autonomous vehicles, whether they’re fully or partially automated.

“There is strong support for holding AV manufacturers responsible for accidents and requiring stricter regulatory and advertising guardrails around features such as FSD,” the Slingshot report said.

Smith said the data shows that beyond its FSD woes, Tesla has “the worst reputation of any EV maker in the U.S.”

“The drop in the company’s brand reputation this year is remarkable,” he said, adding that recent product liability lawsuits and verdicts may be playing a role.

In early August, a jury found Tesla partially liable for a fatal crash where the driver was relying on its autopilot systems. Tesla, which plans to appeal the decision, must pay around $243 million in damages to victims and a survivor.

In the past two months, the number of consumers who view Tesla cars as unsafe has increased to 36% from 34%, the Slingshot report found, while those viewing Tesla as very safe fell to 13% from 17%.

Honda, Toyota and Chevrolet were seen as safest among the greatest number of respondents.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. Slingshot said it sent the survey results to the company but also didn’t hear back from the automaker.

Tesla may find that owners in other markets embrace its brand, and FSD, with greater enthusiasm. The company just started offering FSD Supervised in Australia this week.

Read Slingshot’s full Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report for August 2025 here.

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Dell shares fall on soft third-quarter earnings outlook

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Dell shares fall on soft third-quarter earnings outlook

A Dell Technologies sign is seen in Round Rock, Texas, on June 2, 2023.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Despite beating on its top and bottom lines, shares of Dell Technologies fell more than 5% Thursday in extended trading after giving third-quarter earnings per share guidance that below Wall Street’s expectations.

Here’s how the systems integrator did versus LSEG consensus estimates:

  • EPS: $2.32, adjusted vs. $2.30 estimated
  • Revenue: $29.78 billion vs. $29.17 billion estimated

Dell raised its full year outlook for revenue to be $107 billion at its midpoint and diluted earnings per share to $9.55 at the midpoint, topping Wall Street estimates of $104.6 billion and $9.38 per share.

However, Dell’s guidance for third-quarter earnings per share of $2.45 came in short versus LSEG’s mark of $2.55, despite Dell’s guide for $27 billion in third-quarter revenue topping estimates of $26.1 billion.

Dell said that part of the reason its profit forecast is concentrated in the fourth quarter is due to seasonality, particularly in its storage business.

For the second quarter, overall revenue rose 19% on an annual basis. That was driven by the company’s Servers and Networking revenue, including AI servers, which came in at $12.9 billion, which was up 69% on an annual basis.

Dell is one of Nvidia’s key customers. Dell buys chips from the AI leader and builds computers around them, which it sells to end-users such as CoreWeave, a cloud service. Dell said it shipped $10 billion in AI servers in its past two quarters.

Dell said that it now plans to ship $20 billion of artificial intelligence servers in its fiscal 2026, double what it sold last year.

However, the company’s storage revenue declined 3% to $3.86 billion and missed a StreetAccount estimate of $4.1 billion in sales.

Revenue in the company’s client solutions group, which includes PC sales to enterprises, rose 1% on an annual basis to $12.5 billion. While it used to be Dell’s largest business group, in recent quarters it has grown much slowly than the company’s data center business.

Dell said it spent $1.3 billion on share repurchases and dividends during the quarter.

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