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Huawei launched the Mate 70 series in an event in Shenzhen on November 26, 2024. The phones are the first capable of running Huawei’s new operating system called HarmonyOS NEXT.

Huawei

Huawei on Tuesday launched the Mate 70 series of smartphones that can run on the company’s latest self-developed operating system, as the Chinese giant continues its push toward technological independence in the wake of U.S. sanctions.

The Mate 70 is the successor of the Mate 60, which was released last year and sent shockwaves through the tech and political worlds. It contained a semiconductor that many had thought Huawei and China would find difficult to produce, given the widespread the U.S. restrictions that have looked to cut off the world’s second-largest economy from leading-edge chips. Huawei was separated from Google’s Android operating system in 2019, forcing the Chinese tech giant to develop its own software.

Huawei did not mention what chip the phone was running, but Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer and auto businesses, said that the Mate 70 can operate on HarmonyOS NEXT — the company’s first fully self-developed mobile operating system.

Huawei is hoping that the OS can become a viable alternative to Android and Apple’s iOS in China. The company’s early versions of HarmonyOS were built using open-source Android code.

However, HarmonyOS NEXT reportedly no longer uses that code, marking a siginficant update in Huawei’s software development.

“HarmonyOS Next has good potential as an alternative in China,” Will Wong, senior research manager at IDC, told CNBC. “This is not only because of Huawei’s brand name but also because it has been putting effort into attracting developers to join its ecosystem.”

The company’s consumer business was crippled after various White House restrictions removed its access to key tech from chips to software. But with the Mate 60 launch last year, Huawei’s business in China has been revived, putting pressure on Apple.

Huawei started taking reservations for the device earlier this month and has racked up more than 3 million reservations for the device on one Chinese e-commerce website. This may not necessarily translate into sales.

The company talked up the artificial intelligence features of its device, including photo editing tools. It comes at a time when smartphone makers are looking to lure customers in with new AI tools. In China, the race is on among domestic players to make an impression with their AI tools before the launch of Apple Intelligence in the country.

The Mate 70 series comes in three varieties — the Mate 70, Mate 70 Pro and Mate 70 Pro+. The Mate 70 starts at 5,499 ($759) Chinese yuan, while the Mate 70 Pro+ starts at 8,499 yuan.

On Tuesday, Huawei also took the wraps off its latest foldable smartphone called the Mate X6 which starts at 12,999 yuan.

New OS in focus

Over the past year, Huawei appears to be bolstered by the success of its devices in China and, posting growth that has propelled it back into the list of top five smartphone players in the country.

The company has looked to display its technological capabilities publicly from the trifold smartphone launched in September to HarmonyOS NEXT in a bid to show it is not being held back by U.S. sacntions.

In addition to the Mate 70 series and Mate X6 foldable being capable of running the new OS, Huawei said some of its older devices will receive the software upgrade over the coming months.

The success of operating systems is often predicated on the suite of its available apps. During the launch event, Yu showed how, as part of HarmonyOS NEXT, the AI can interact with popular apps such as Alipay, one of China’s biggest mobile payment services.

For now, Huawei’s latest phones alongside HarmonyOS NEXT are very much focused on the Chinese market, as the company still faces mounting challenges abroad.

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YouTube wipes out thousands of propaganda channels linked to China, Russia, others

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YouTube wipes out thousands of propaganda channels linked to China, Russia, others

Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Google announced Monday the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts tied to state-linked propaganda campaigns from China, Russia and more in the second quarter.

The takedown included more than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to China.

These campaigns primarily shared content in Chinese and English that promoted the People’s Republic of China, supported President Xi Jinping and commented on U.S. foreign affairs.

Over 2,000 removed channels were linked to Russia. The content was in multiple languages that supported Russia and criticized Ukraine, NATO and the West.

Google, in May, removed 20 YouTube channels, 4 Ads accounts, and 1 Blogger blog linked to RT, the Russian state-controlled media outlet accused of paying prominent conservative influencers for social media content ahead of the 2024 election.

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — all staunch supporters of President Donald Trump — made content for Tenent Media, the Tennessee company described in the indictment, according to NBC News.

Read more CNBC tech news

YouTube began blocking RT channels in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The active removal of accounts is part of the Google Threat Analysis Group’s work to counter global disinformation campaigns and “coordinated influence” operations.

Google’s second quarter report also outlined the removal of influence campaigns linked to Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Romania and Ghana that were found to be targeting political rivals.

Some campaigns centered on growing geopolitical conflicts, including narratives on both sides of the Israel-Palestine War.

CNBC has reached out to YouTube for further comment or information on the report.

Google took down more than 23,000 accounts in the first quarter.

Meta announced last week it removed about 10 million profiles for impersonating large content producers through the first half of 2025 as part of an effort by the company to combat “spammy content.”

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New Astronomer CEO gives first statement since Coldplay kiss-cam scandal

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New Astronomer CEO gives first statement since Coldplay kiss-cam scandal

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs live at San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy, in July 2017.

Mairo Cinquetti | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Astronomer‘s interim CEO said in his first public comment since unexpectedly taking over the role on Saturday that he hopes to move the tech startup past the viral moment that captured national attention last week.

Pete DeJoy was appointed to the top job due to the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, days after he was caught on video in an intimate moment with the company’s head of human resources at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer said over the weekend that it would begin a search for a new CEO.

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”

Byron was shown on a big screen at the concert in Boston on Wednesday with his arms around Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was shown on screen. Lead singer Chris Martin said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” A concert attendee’s video of the affair went viral.

Read more CNBC reporting on AI

DeJoy helped start Astronomer in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, and had been serving as chief product officer since earlier this year.

In May, Astronomer announced a $93 million investment round led by Bain Ventures and other investors, including Salesforce Ventures.

“I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers,” DeJoy wrote. He added that “our story is very much still being written.”

Astronomer is commercializing the open-source data operations platform Astro. DeJoy wrote that customers “trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects” and that “we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.”

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Figma IPO could value design software maker at $16 billion

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Figma IPO could value design software maker at  billion

Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma Inc., after the morning sessions at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2024.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Design software company Figma on Monday published an updated prospectus for its initial public offering.

The company said it expects to sell about 37 million shares at $25 to $28 each. That would generate as much as $1 billion in proceeds, between the company and selling shareholders.

The IPO could value Figma, led by co-founder Dylan Field, a fully diluted valuation of $14.6 billion to $16.4 billion. Field plans to sell 2.35 million shares, which could be worth as much as $65.8 million.

In a 2024 tender offer, investors valued the company at $12.5 billion. In 2022, Adobe had agreed to acquire Figma for $20 billion, but the deal was scrapped after regulators objected.

The flow of technology companies joining U.S. exchanges has slowed since late 2021. Concerns over inflation and a recession made some investors less interested in backing fast-growing but money-losing companies.

But a few technology stocks have become available in recent months. CoreWeave went public in March, and Circle and Chime shares started trading in June.

Read more CNBC tech news

Figma filed to go public on July 1, announcing plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIG.”

On Monday, it provided preliminary results for the second quarter, showing $9.0 million to $12.0 million in operating income on $247 million to $250 million in revenue. That would imply year-over-year revenue growth of 39% at the low end and 41% at the high end. Growth in the first quarter exceeded 46%.

During the second quarter, Figma added clients and expanded business with existing ones. The company’s operating margin would be ticking up to 4% to 5%, up from 3% in the same quarter a year ago, based on the preliminary results.

Figma said it has authorized the issuance of “blockchain common stock” in the form of “blockchain-based tokens.” So far, though, Figma said it isn’t planning to issue this type of stock. In July, Figma disclosed investments in a stablecoin and a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Mike Krieger, a co-founder of Instagram who is now chief product officer of artificial intelligence model developer Anthropic, has joined the board. Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, is also joining the board, according to the filing.

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