Morning Briefing | Apple Announces New CEO, Creates Chief Hardware Officer Position / Huawei Releases Large Foldable Clamshell, Yu Chengdong: Price Increase Possible If We Can’t Hold On Anymore / Multiple Platforms Respond to 12306’s Refusal to Issue Tickets


Apple officially announced its new CEO, John Ternus, who will take over in September.

Huawei releases the Pura X Max and Pura 90 series, featuring a large foldable smartphone. Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei, stated that prices may increase if the market cannot withstand the pressure.

ByteDance heavily invested in AI, but its net profit shrank by more than 70% year-on-year last year. Executives say the decline wasn't that significant.

Tesla China: There are currently no specific plans to mass-produce robots at the Shanghai Gigafactory.

In pursuit of Yu Hao: The mobile phone market should be divided into three parts with Huawei and Xiaomi, but I can't tell you how to do it right now.

The next generation of Leica cameras will be equipped with a domestically made custom CMOS sensor.

Ford CEO: The reason for choosing to test drive the Xiaomi SU7 was because Tesla "didn't have an updated model".
China accounts for over 80% of global shipments of humanoid robots.

Lingguang App invests 100 million yuan to launch a creator incentive program

The company scheduled the interview for Sunday, which the job seeker found incredibly convenient.

Kimi K2.6 Released and Open Source

Inspiron Luna Ultra Hands-on Review: Leica Dual Camera, 1-inch Sensor, 14-stop Dynamic Range

Starting at 428,000 yuan, the all-new Tank 700 is officially launched.

Qwen 3.6-Max-Preview is now online.

Alibaba releases Fun-ASR 1.5, a large-scale speech recognition model.

Gree speaks out on "real copper materials": Discontinuing production of engineering models does not mean that home models will be downgraded.

Jia Guolong's braised noodles opened three stores in Shanghai, and the affiliated company completed its name change.

Multiple platforms respond to 12306's refusal to issue tickets.

iQiyi released a database of 100 AI-powered artists, and several actors named mentioned had not signed any AI licensing agreements.

The live-action film adaptation of "Elden Ring" has been officially announced and is scheduled for release in 2028.

Apple officially announced its new CEO, John Ternus, who will take over in September.

Early this morning, Apple officially announced that Tim Cook will step down as CEO, and John Ternus will take over. Simultaneously, two internal letters were leaked, one from current CEO Tim Cook and the other from John Ternus.
In his letter, Cook stated that he would step down as CEO and become chairman later this year. He had several in-depth conversations with Tenus and found him to be visionary and possessing an exceptional character.
John is the right leader to help us move into the future and explore bold new directions.
Cook confirmed he will continue as CEO this summer and hand over the reins to Tenus in September; Tenus also confirmed in a letter that he will take over as CEO this September.
This September, I will become Apple's new CEO. It has been a tremendous honor to lead the hardware engineering team, participate in such outstanding work, and witness each and every one of you dedicate yourselves to doing the best for users. I look forward to working closely with you in this new role, and of course, I will continue to be personally involved.
Starting today, Tenus will step down as head of hardware engineering, with Tom Marieb taking over and reporting to Johny Srouji. Apple also announced that Srouji will assume the newly created position of Chief Hardware Officer.
Related reading: Apple just announced its new CEO; Cook's successor is more like Jobs.
Huawei releases the Pura X Max and Pura 90 series, featuring a large foldable smartphone. Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei, stated that prices may increase if the market cannot withstand the pressure.

Yesterday, Huawei officially launched the Pura 90 series and its first large foldable screen phone, the Pura X Max, at its Pura series and all-scenario new product launch event. The entire Pura 90 series features a flat screen design and focuses on imaging upgrades; the Pura X Max, on the other hand, boasts a large foldable screen and is positioned as a flagship foldable form factor phone. Let's look at the pricing:
The Pura 90 series starts at 4,699 yuan, the same as the previous generation Pura 80 series. The Pura 90 Pro starts at 1,000 yuan less than the Pura 80 Pro. The Pura X Max starts at 10,999 yuan.
At the press conference, Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s executive director and chairman of the terminal BG, said that due to the continuous rise in the price of memory chips, the average cost of a single Pura 90 series unit has increased by about 1,500 yuan, putting significant pressure on pricing.
We're under a lot of pressure, and we've really been working incredibly hard. The pricing pressure for the new phones is immense right now, and if we can't keep up with the costs, we might have to raise prices later.
- The Pura 90 standard edition is equipped with the Kirin 9010S, featuring a rear camera setup of a 50MP f/1.8 main camera + a 50MP f/2.2 periscope telephoto lens + a 12.5MP ultra-wide-angle lens + a red maple lens, and a 50MP front camera; it has a built-in 6500mAh battery and supports 100W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging;
- The Pura X Max is positioned as the industry's first large foldable screen phone, and all models are equipped with the Kirin 9030 Pro. Its design is inspired by the golden ratio of A4 paper, and it focuses on a "wide inside and out, immersive in both horizontal and vertical orientations" audio-visual, gaming and office experience.
- The Pura 90 Pro and Pro Max will both debut with the Kirin 9030S, featuring a 50MP main camera with a 10-stop variable aperture (f/1.4-f/4.0), a built-in 6000mAh battery, and support for 66W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging.
- The Pro Max version further enhances imaging specifications, upgrading the telephoto lens to the industry's first ultra-large sensor 200-megapixel RYYB lens based on the Pro version, supporting 20x optical HD video recording and CIPA 7.0 image stabilization; the screen is upgraded to 6.9 inches, featuring the first anti-reflective and scratch-resistant Kunlun glass, reducing reflections by 70%; and it supports 100W wired + 80W wireless fast charging.
Also launched at the event were the Huawei AI Glasses, starting at 2499 yuan; the MateBook 14 HarmonyOS Edition, starting at 6599 yuan; the Huawei Watch FIT 5 Pro, starting at 2099 yuan; the Huawei Watch Buds 2, starting at 3488 yuan; and the Huawei Watch Master, priced at 29999 yuan.

ByteDance heavily invested in AI, but its net profit shrank by more than 70% year-on-year last year. Executives say the decline wasn't that significant.

According to reports from Jiemian News and 21st Century Business Herald, sources familiar with the matter revealed that ByteDance's net profit in 2025 declined by more than 70% year-on-year, with a significant contraction in net profit margin.
The core reason is that the company significantly increased its resource investment in the field of artificial intelligence in the third and fourth quarters of last year, including the procurement of high-end AI chips and the development of underlying models, among other core aspects. The huge expenditure directly dragged down the company's profit performance for the whole year.
Despite a significant decline in net profit, ByteDance's revenue still maintained strong growth. According to sources familiar with the matter, ByteDance's overall revenue continued its growth trend last year, with domestic revenue increasing by about 20% year-on-year and overseas revenue increasing by nearly 50% year-on-year. The proportion of overseas business revenue increased from 25% in 2024 to more than 30%, setting a new record.
In its communication with shareholders, ByteDance revealed that it will further expand its investment in technology resources this year. Coupled with supporting investments related to compliance in overseas markets, net profit margin will continue to be under pressure in the short term.
In response, ByteDance executive Li Liang issued a clarification, stating that the aforementioned net profit decline of over 70% was based on international accounting standards and included factors that "do not reflect the actual operation," such as changes in preferred stock and option costs, in addition to increased investment in emerging businesses.
He stated that the actual operating profit margin only declined slightly in the second half of the year, "far less than the significant decline reported." Excluding the aforementioned non-operating factors, overall revenue and profit still achieved growth.
Tesla China: There are currently no specific plans to mass-produce robots at the Shanghai Gigafactory.

According to the Securities Times, Tesla China responded yesterday to online rumors that "Tesla is about to mass-produce robots in Shanghai," clarifying that the claim was a misinterpretation.
Tesla currently has no concrete plans to mass-produce robots at its Shanghai Gigafactory. Please do not describe in reports that Tesla is about to mass-produce robots in Shanghai; this is incorrect information.
According to reports, on April 14, when Tesla Vice President Wang Hao was asked about robots at a media event, he only discussed that the Shanghai Gigafactory has good large-scale mass production capabilities and great potential in the future, without making any specific commitments regarding the mass production of robots.
It is reported that Tesla's third-generation humanoid robot is planned to be released at the end of 2026. The Fremont factory is transforming the Model S/X production line into a production line for the humanoid robot Optimus, with a final planned annual production capacity of one million units.
In pursuit of Yu Hao: The mobile phone market should be divided into three parts with Huawei and Xiaomi, but I can't tell you how to do it right now.

According to LatePost, Dreame Technology founder Yu Hao gave an in-depth interview yesterday lasting six and a half hours. Regarding his previous public statement that Dreame phones would compete with Huawei and Xiaomi in the future, Yu Hao stated that Dreame originally did not intend to disclose its mobile phone business, but "it couldn't be kept secret any longer."
We didn't originally intend to talk about it, but we couldn't keep it a secret any longer. When the car team reached 800 people and the mobile phone team had several hundred, there were many rumors circulating outside, and these rumors led to many misunderstandings.
As for how to achieve a three-way division of power, he did not provide a clear path, but rather incorporated it into his consistent methodological framework:
Getting from point A to point B, constantly testing and providing feedback to adjust the route—this approach might be better in today's increasingly internationalized and diverse technological landscape. You want me to tell you how to do it from day one? I can't do that.
Beyond smartphones, Yu Hao also revealed plans to manufacture cars, also targeting the high-end market, aiming to create the "fastest pure electric car" with a price higher than Tesla's.
Yu Hao also revealed that Dreame has maintained an average revenue growth rate of 100% for eight consecutive years since its establishment, and its global net profit margin has exceeded 20% in the most recent quarter. Its main business continues to be profitable, which he believes is the fundamental strength supporting its multi-line expansion.
The next generation of Leica cameras will be equipped with a domestically made custom CMOS sensor.

Gpixel, a domestic CMOS image sensor supplier, officially announced a strategic partnership with Leica yesterday. The two companies will jointly develop a high-performance CMOS image sensor chip for the next generation of Leica cameras.
It is understood that this collaboration will integrate Leica's years of professional experience in the field of high-end imaging with Changguang Chenxin's leading CMOS image sensor design capabilities to create a customized chip that precisely matches the stringent standards of Leica cameras in terms of color reproduction, noise optimization, dynamic range, and detail rendering.
The two parties will also collaborate closely on chip verification, image calibration, and mass production preparation, covering the entire chain from R&D to mass production. Engineering and technical teams from Wetzlar, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; and Changchun, China will participate in the project.
Ford CEO: The reason for choosing to test drive the Xiaomi SU7 was because Tesla "didn't have an updated model".

Recently, Ford CEO Jim Farley explained on the podcast "Rapid Response" why he chose to drive a Xiaomi SU7 instead of a Tesla in 2024 to understand market competition.
Farley responded that if the goal is to compete head-on with Chinese automakers in the automotive sector, the focus doesn't necessarily have to be on Tesla.
This isn't directed at Tesla. They're doing very well; it's just that they don't have any updated models right now.
Farley believes that Chinese automakers, represented by BYD, possess significant advantages in cost control, supply chain management, and manufacturing capabilities, making them arguably the "strongest in the industry." He stated that if Ford can learn from BYD's cost competitiveness and apply it to its more familiar market segments, it could gain an advantage in the next round of competition.
He also pointed out that the next phase of electric vehicle consumers in the United States still favor models such as pickup trucks and SUVs, but price expectations have dropped from the early $50,000 to around $30,000, with "affordability" becoming the core demand.
Earlier, he revealed on a podcast that he drove a Xiaomi SU7 for six months straight in 2024 and refused to change vehicles. In early April of this year, he went even further on the Fox & Friends show, warning that if Chinese cars were to enter the US market on a large scale, it would have a "devastating" impact on American manufacturing.
China accounts for over 80% of global shipments of humanoid robots.

According to CCTV.com, China's shipments of humanoid robots have accounted for more than 80% of the global market share, and robots are becoming a new label for China's foreign trade.
While China's domestic robotics industry continues its explosive growth, Chinese-made robots are accelerating their overseas expansion, with exports continuing to grow rapidly. Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first quarter of this year, China's exports of machinery and electronic products reached 4.34 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 60% of total exports.
Among them, as a representative of new quality productivity and an important carrier of future industries, various types of "robots" produced in China have been exported to more than 140 countries and regions around the world.
Lingguang App invests 100 million yuan to launch a creator incentive program

Ant Light App officially announced yesterday the launch of the "Light Flash App Creator Incentive Program", investing a special fund of 100 million yuan to support high-quality flash apps and outstanding creators on the platform.
According to the program rules, up to 1 million yuan will be awarded daily to 10,000 high-quality flash apps, and up to 1 million yuan will be awarded weekly to 100 outstanding creators. Users can participate in the selection by creating a flash app on the Lingguang App and publishing it to the Lingguang Circle.
Alongside the incentive program, a brand-new feature called "Aura Circle" is also being launched, a content platform designed specifically for the Flash App ecosystem. Within Aura Circle, personally created Flash Apps can be shared, liked, and used for secondary creation.
Related reading: What if apps could spread like social media?
The company scheduled the interview for Sunday, which the job seeker found incredibly convenient.

According to Business Insider, as artificial intelligence makes it easier to inflate resumes, more and more employers are introducing "work trials," requiring job seekers to complete real projects or work on-the-job before being formally hired, in order to verify their actual abilities.
However, this trend has also put new pressure on employed job seekers—they often have to take time off work to participate in these more time-consuming recruitment processes.
Faced with this dilemma, the startup legal services firm Crosby offered its own solution: scheduling interviews on Sundays. Crosby CEO Ryan Daniels stated that this arrangement initially worried him, as it might provoke resistance from job seekers, but many candidates actually felt relieved.
Many people would even say, "This is so convenient."
Sunday interviews allow employed job seekers to avoid using their annual leave, while also aligning with the work habits of company executives, who often handle business on Sundays and have relatively free calendars on those days, giving them more time to engage in in-depth interviews.
In terms of specific format, Crosby adopts differentiated assessment methods for different positions. Software engineer candidates are directly placed in real projects, where their coding skills are assessed not only but also how they use AI-assisted tools in actual work; business position candidates participate in group interviews with the senior management team.
After the interview, candidates will have lunch or dinner with the team to assess their cultural fit. Daniels believes this step is crucial for attracting top candidates: "If they fit in with the team, we certainly won't miss them."

Kimi K2.6 Released and Open Source

Yesterday, Dark Side of the Moon officially released and open-sourced its new model, Kimi K2.6, with key upgrades to the code, AI agent, and office capabilities.
- Enhanced coding capabilities: Internal benchmark scores improved by approximately 20%, capable of coding continuously for 13 hours and processing over 4000 lines of code, supporting multiple languages including Rust, Go, and Python;
- AI agent cluster expansion: Supports up to 300 sub-AI agents to collaborate in parallel, completing 4,000 steps, significantly improving task completion quality;
- Long-term autonomous operation: Supports continuous autonomous operation for 5 days without human intervention within frameworks such as OpenClaw and Hermes Agent;
- Upgraded design capabilities: It can generate web pages and web applications with better visual effects, and is significantly better than Gemini 3 in front-end design evaluation;
- New Skills Feature: Supports "Office Document to Skill" conversion, and includes hundreds of officially recommended skills built into the system.
In industry benchmark tests, K2.6 performs on par with or better than closed-source models such as GPT-5.4, Claude Opus 4.6, and Gemini 3.1 Pro in tests such as SWE-Bench Pro and Humanity's Last Exam.
This release also previewed a small-scale beta test of the "Claw Group" feature, which allows humans and multiple AI agents to collaborate within the same group, with the OpenClaw framework being among the first to be supported.
Hugging Face: huggingface.co/moonshotai
ModelScope: modelscope.ai/organization/moonshotai
Inspiron Luna Ultra Hands-on Review: Leica Dual Camera, 1-inch Sensor, 14-stop Dynamic Range

Recently, blogger David Manning got his hands on InSight's upcoming dual-camera handheld gimbal camera, the Luna Ultra, and revealed five key specifications.
- The lens was jointly developed by Inkstone and Leica;
- The phone features a dual-camera design and supports switching between multiple focal lengths, but the specific focal length values have not yet been announced.
- It features a 1-inch sensor, an F1.8 aperture, a dynamic range of 14-15 stops, and supports 10-bit video recording;
- In the video, Manning also hinted at "another innovation" on the front of the fuselage, but said it could not be disclosed at the moment.
Luna Ultra has been confirmed to be showcased at NAB 2026, held from April 19th to 22nd this year. Inspiron CEO Jingkang Liu publicly stated at the company's annual meeting in February that Luna would be officially released in the first half of this year, emphasizing that it is "definitely not another Pocket."
Starting at 428,000 yuan, the all-new Tank 700 is officially launched.

Yesterday, the all-new Tank 700 was officially launched, with a starting price of 428,000 yuan.
In terms of exterior design, the new Tank 700 continues the narrative of Eastern aesthetics, introducing the world's first mechanical rotating and opening laser headlight "Rainbow Eyes" and the industry's first exclusive rear wing for hardcore off-road vehicles "Auspicious Flame Tail". The rear adopts a 6-light layout; the new color "Dunhuang Green" is inspired by the original color of lapis lazuli in Dunhuang murals.
- In terms of power, the standard version is equipped with the Hi4-Z super hybrid architecture for off-road use, and adopts the world's first power split technology; the peak version is equipped with a self-developed 3.0T twin-turbocharged hybrid engine.
- All models come standard with ventilated/heated/massaging fiber cloud seats, a 21-speaker 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system, a 5.4L intelligent refrigerator, and a 17.3-inch 3K rear ceiling screen;
- It features VLA large model and Coffee Pilot 4.0, supporting spoken commands.
Also launched was "Qilin Club," positioned as a high-end user community. It initially opened up five interest groups: equestrian, sea fishing, photography, and business, and launched the "Top 100 Managers" program to provide members with niche hidden routes and exclusive tour leader services.
Qwen 3.6-Max-Preview is now online.

Yesterday, the Qianwen team released an early preview version of its flagship model, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview. As the next-generation successor to Qwen3.6-Plus, the new model has achieved significant improvements in three dimensions: agent programming, world knowledge, and instruction compliance.
- SkillsBench improved by 9.9 points, SciCode by 10.8 points, NL2Repo by 5.0 points, and Terminal-Bench 2.0 by 3.8 points;
- In terms of knowledge and skills, SuperGPQA improved by 2.3 points and QwenChineseBench improved by 5.3 points;
- In terms of instruction compliance, ToolcallFormatIFBench improved by 2.8 points.
According to the official statement, the model achieved the highest scores on six major programming benchmarks: SWE-bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0, SkillsBench, QwenClawBench, QwenWebBench, and SciCode.
According to CBN, Alibaba's ATH announced yesterday that its AI video generation project HappyHorse-1.0 will gradually open its API for testing through the Alibaba Cloud Bailian platform on April 27, with enterprise customers being the first batch of invited testers.
Related reading: Just now, the strongest model from Qianwen was released, topping the list of best domestically produced models.
Alibaba releases Fun-ASR 1.5, a large-scale speech recognition model.

Yesterday, Alibaba released its new generation end-to-end speech recognition model, Fun-ASR 1.5, which covers 30 languages including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, and German with a single model. The underlying architecture adopts MoE (Hybrid Expert) architecture and has achieved state-of-the-art (SOTA) results in multiple open-source multilingual test sets.
In terms of Chinese dialects, the model is trained on hundreds of thousands of hours of real speech data, and the average word error rate (CER) has decreased by 56.2% compared with the previous version. It covers seven major dialect systems including Cantonese, Minnan, Hakka, and Shanghainese, and adds a special recognition of ancient poetry. The internal evaluation shows that the character-level accuracy rate reaches 97%.
In addition, the model can automatically insert punctuation and normalize spoken expressions into standardized formats, such as converting "fifty-eight thousand yuan" into "58,000 yuan", which greatly reduces the manual proofreading costs in scenarios such as meeting minutes and legal transcripts.
Mengshi Motors, in collaboration with Huawei Qiankun, released a new intelligent off-road architecture.

Mengshi Motors held a spring refresh launch event yesterday, announcing that its cooperation with Huawei Qiankun has been upgraded from "product co-creation" to "deep empowerment", and jointly released a number of new technologies for intelligent off-road scenarios.
The two parties launched a brand-new intelligent off-road architecture, equipped with the industry's first 896-line lidar, and adopt a "dual optical path" design. The official claim is that it can stably detect obstacles 14 centimeters high and 120 meters away, and improve the road perception accuracy to over 95%.
In terms of chassis, the Rock Chassis 2.0 incorporates Huawei's Qiankun XMC digital chassis engine; in terms of power, the Extreme Power 2.0 boasts a combined range of 1450km, a 0-100km/h acceleration time of under 4 seconds, and supports 6C fast charging. The "Whale Fin" communication system supports dual SIM dual standby, with the official claim of signal strength exceeding industry standards by 60%.
Mengshi Motors stated that it will implement the above technologies in more than four new models in the next two years, and plans to expand its off-road ecosystem base to 100 locations next year.

Gree speaks out on "real copper materials": Discontinuing production of engineering models does not mean that home models will be downgraded.
According to Sina Tech, Gree Electric Appliances issued an industry publicity and standards initiative statement yesterday, and made a public response to the online dispute with Hisense Air Conditioner over "real copper materials".
In its statement, Gree pointed out that "genuine copper materials" is a clear standard and original proposition put forward by Gree based on its commitment to product quality. Gree believes that Hisense's use of this expression in its advertising and its slogan "Good air is made by Hisense" are highly similar to Gree's classic slogan "Good air conditioners are made by Gree".
In response to online allegations that "some Gree models use aluminum wire motors," Gree Electric Appliances clarified that the models in question are 5-horsepower commercial ducted air conditioning units and 5-horsepower commercial ceiling-mounted air conditioning units. These are specially customized small-batch engineering units, not household retail models for ordinary consumers, and the aforementioned products have long been discontinued.
Gree further emphasized that the company implements unified and stringent standards for all domestic retail air conditioners: all household models use genuine copper materials for both the heat exchanger and the motor, and the motor uses 100% copper wire. "We will never substitute aluminum for copper, and we will never reduce the quality or cut corners."
Gree advocates that the industry return to the essence of products, promote transparency in the materials used in end products in the consumer market, and disclose the materials of the four core components: condenser, evaporator, compressor and motor.
Jia Guolong's braised noodles opened three stores in Shanghai, and the affiliated company completed its name change.

According to Red Star Capital Bureau, "Tianbian Casserole Noodles," a new brand under Xibei founder Jia Guolong, opened three stores simultaneously in Shanghai yesterday, located in Jing'an, Pudong, and Jiading districts. The Pudong Dongfang Road store is the largest in Shanghai, with a building area of over 2,400 square meters and 350 seats.
The brand's main product is the clay pot braised noodles, a specialty of Bayannur, Inner Mongolia, the hometown of Jia Guolong. The core categories include clay pot braised noodles and clay pot soup noodles, accompanied by side dishes such as braised dishes, clay pot dishes, and cold dishes. The average cost per person is about 50 yuan.
In addition, business registration information shows that Beijing Jia Guolong Air Bun Catering Management Co., Ltd. has recently completed its business registration change, changing its name to Tianbian Brand Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and its legal representative has changed from Fu Guo to Li Zhihong.
Inner Mongolia Xiyue Fendou Catering Co., Ltd. was recently established, with Qin Yongjun as its legal representative. It is jointly owned by Tianbian Brand Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Qin Yongjun, and its business scope covers catering services, food business management and liquor business.
Jia Guolong had previously revealed that one of the core purposes of launching the new brand was to take over some of Xibei's idle stores and employees.
Multiple platforms respond to 12306's refusal to issue tickets.

According to China News Service, during the peak period of ticket purchases for the May Day holiday, the 12306 platform launched risk control upgrades, and the train ticket issuance functions of multiple third-party business travel platforms experienced abnormal fluctuations.
Customer service representatives from Tongcheng Business Travel, Ctrip Business Travel, and Didi Enterprise Edition have all confirmed that the train ticket issuance system is experiencing abnormal fluctuations or delays due to the 12306 risk control upgrade and the May Day booking peak. All platforms stated that they are working on fixing the issues.
Ctrip's corporate travel customer service explicitly stated that the train ticket waitlist function is no longer available. "The backlog of business has been quite severe these past two days, and our technical staff are currently working on fixing it." They added that they are still waiting for further notice regarding when the function will be restored.
Meanwhile, customer service representatives from Ctrip, Fliggy, and Qunar all stated that the waitlist ticket-grabbing function is still working normally.

iQiyi released a database of 100 AI-powered artists, and several actors named mentioned had not signed any AI licensing agreements.

According to Jiangnan Metropolis Daily, the 2026 iQiyi World Conference was officially held yesterday. At the conference, iQiyi CEO Gong Yu announced the AI Artist Database plan, revealing that more than 100 artists have already joined the platform's AI Artist Database.
Video footage from the scene shows that Yu Hewei, Zhang Ruoyun, Ma Su, Chen Zheyuan, Zeng Shunxi, Cheng Lei, Wang Churan, Director Fang, Jiang Long, and others were named among those listed.
In his speech, Gong Yu said that AI can help actors have "more time for themselves," and that "actors often work very hard, filming for three or four months at a time, without any personal life. AI can also help actors increase the number of films they can do from four to fourteen a year, giving everyone more time to rest."
However, several of the celebrities named subsequently issued statements denying the allegations. Zhang Ruoyun, Wang Churan, Li Yitong, and Yu Hewei all stated that they had never signed any AI-related licensing agreements. The significant discrepancy between the official announcement and the statements from the individuals involved has plunged the event into a public relations crisis.
In response to the controversy, iQiyi subsequently issued a statement. The statement pointed out that the original intention of establishing the NaDou Pro artist database was to provide AIGC creators with a standardized platform to facilitate their selection of artists during the creation process and to enable them to efficiently communicate cooperation details with artists through iQiyi.
iQiyi emphasizes that being added to the artist database only means that the artist "has the intention to engage in AI film and television projects," but whether they participate in specific projects or play specific roles requires separate negotiation and authorization. "This process is consistent with the traditional cooperation process for live-action film and television projects."
The live-action film adaptation of "Elden Ring" has been officially announced and is scheduled for release in 2028.

Yesterday, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced that the live-action film adaptation of the popular game "Elden Ring" has officially been scheduled for release on March 3, 2028, in North America in IMAX format, with filming to begin this spring.
This film is a co-production of A24 Pictures and Bandai Namco Entertainment, directed and written by Alex Garland—whose notable works include *Annihilation*, *Ex Machina*, and *American Civil War*. George R.R. Martin, the author of the original game, will serve as one of the producers.
Wanda Cinemas will not change its brand name.

Yesterday, after Wanda Cinema officially changed its name to "Ruyi Film Entertainment Co., Ltd.", Chairman and President Chen Zhixi issued an all-staff letter explaining the rationale behind the name change:
"Confucianism" represents the content creation gene inherent in the company's DNA, while "Film and Entertainment" demonstrates the strategic determination to focus on offline scenarios and cultivate diverse entertainment experiences.
It is worth noting that this name change only applies to the listed company entity. Its physical cinemas will continue to use the "Wanda Cinemas" brand, and new brands will be planned in the future based on market changes and user needs.
At the strategic level, Chen Zhixi reviewed the transformation path of Ruyi in the two years since its acquisition in an all-staff letter: the company has evolved from a simple screening terminal to an industry closed loop of "content development – theatrical screening – IP operation", and has introduced diverse content such as the Spring Festival Gala, F1, and the League of Legends World Championship into cinemas.
Chen Zhixi stated that the company will leverage its more than 700 directly operated cinemas nationwide and its Confucian IP reserves to create "super scenes" and "super IPs".
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