China’s breakthrough in technology: Huawei unveils a new mobile phone – Business

The Chinese can only imitate, they cannot develop anything of their own: this is a common misconception about Germany’s most important trading partner. Currently, Chinese automakers are showing that this is not true at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich. Technology groups Huawei and Baidu have recently shown that they can push ahead with their own innovations even in the face of active resistance from the West.

A few days ago, Huawei launched its latest flagship smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, in China, which is unusually quiet. This mobile phone definitely deserves a big exposure if what the state media reported is true: the device, which costs around 900 euros, should achieve mobile speeds like the 5G standard, made possible by a chip developed and produced entirely in-house. The US government has cut off Huawei from modern semiconductor supplies in recent years and severely tarnished the smartphone business of what was once the world’s largest mobile phone maker.

Huawei does not want to officially comment on this matter. But if the Chinese company can indeed become independent of foreign chip technology, that would raise questions about the effectiveness of US sanctions. Launching the sale while US Trade Representative Gina Raimondo was touring China last week is like giving Washington an extra middle finger — and drawing applause from nationalist circles.

Chinese chat competitor GPT Ernie Bot, which search engine operator Baidu released to the public a few days ago despite US sanctions, is also causing a stir. The group had already introduced AI in the spring, when China, like the rest of the world, was in a GPT chat fever. But so far only a handful of carefully selected testers had access to the software because Baidu did not have the necessary government license. Now that this exists, it is becoming clear what constitutes an AI that holds “socialist values”.

A quick quiz shows Ernie giving math and vacation tips as well as his American rival. Also, despite repeated searches, the AI ​​cannot be convinced that Elvis Presley may still be alive. On the other hand, it cannot decide who is China’s foreign minister: Chen Gang, who has since disappeared and has since been ousted, or the current foreign minister, Wang Yi, have been named. Ernie answers politically sensitive questions about the protests against China’s ruler Xi Jinping or what happened on June 4 (the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre) with the caustic “Let’s change the subject.” It is clear that Taiwan’s independence efforts are being instigated by “foreign powers”.

Ernie sounds self-assured when asked who will win the technological competition between China and the United States: The People’s Republic will fill the gap simply because of its economic rise. Through its xenophobic policies, the US government is bogged down in the competition for global talent.

And at least in government circles in Beijing, they will be happy to hear these answers.