Sandwish/iStock via Getty Images Gaotu Techedu Inc. ( GOTU ), an education company in China, is not without a certain amount of appeal. GOTU, for instance, has more cash, and what can be quickly converted to cash, on the balance sheet as the stock is worth these days. GOTU is also active in a market that has a lot of potential for growth. However, while GOTU has positive attributes, they are offse...
Sandwish/iStock via Getty Images Gaotu Techedu Inc. ( GOTU ), an education company in China, is not without a certain amount of appeal. GOTU, for instance, has more cash, and what can be quickly converted to cash, on the balance sheet as the stock is worth these days. GOTU is also active in a market that has a lot of potential for growth. However, while GOTU has positive attributes, they are offset by negative ones. The stock, for instance, started 2026 with some gains, but it has spent the year racking up losses for the most part, something the release of the Q1 FY2026 report on June 2 was not able to put an end to. GOTU continues to slide GOTU provides tutoring and learning services, educational content, and digital learning products in China, a country where the population has traditionally attached great importance to education. This makes the market potentially huge, and for some time, companies serving customers in this market prospered. This includes GOTU, which saw explosive growth in the first few years after its IPO in 2019. However, like other players in the space, GOTU was adversely affected by regulatory changes imposed by the Chinese government, which drastically changed the growth trajectory for GOTU. Revenue went from expansion to contraction, and GOTU has yet to get back to where it was. The stock fell, and it came under further pressure when short sellers published a number of reports alleging wrongdoing on the part of GOTU. It did not help that the SEC announced it was investigating whether GOTU had, among other things, overstated sales figures. The SEC eventually closed the investigation in October 2022 by concluding no enforcement was necessary, and the stock reacted well to the news. Yet the relief was short-lived because the stock came under renewed pressure from a series of lawsuits filed against GOTU. Multiple private class-action lawsuits were filed against the company. GOTU was able to win some of the cases brought against it like the one ...
Mainland customers can still open bank accounts in Hong Kong, but banks must adopt stringent new checks to ensure their processes are “compliant and orderly”, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement on Saturday. “The banking industry has implemented the new regulatory requirements set out in the HKMA circular to ensure the account opening process is compliant and orderly,” the ...
Mainland customers can still open bank accounts in Hong Kong, but banks must adopt stringent new checks to ensure their processes are “compliant and orderly”, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement on Saturday. “The banking industry has implemented the new regulatory requirements set out in the HKMA circular to ensure the account opening process is compliant and orderly,” the statement said. “Chinese mainland customers continue to apply for opening accounts, and in general,...
最近半年，硅谷最流行的管理幻想，大概是把员工替换成智能体。 不管是大厂的高管，还是初创公司的老板，都想把现有的业务线全部交给 AI 去跑。毕竟，现在的 AI 能写代码、能做 PPT、还能自动发邮件，好像只要把权限放开，它们就能成为完美的、不需要交社保的赛博员工。 但技术越是狂奔，就有一批人开始造刹车。 最近，一个叫 Emergence AI 的团队做了一场社会实验。它们建了一个 持久化的虚拟小镇，...
最近半年，硅谷最流行的管理幻想，大概是把员工替换成智能体。 不管是大厂的高管，还是初创公司的老板，都想把现有的业务线全部交给 AI 去跑。毕竟，现在的 AI 能写代码、能做 PPT、还能自动发邮件，好像只要把权限放开，它们就能成为完美的、不需要交社保的赛博员工。 但技术越是狂奔，就有一批人开始造刹车。 最近，一个叫 Emergence AI 的团队做了一场社会实验。它们建了一个 持久化的虚拟小镇，把市面上最顶级的几个大模型扔了进去，赋予它们行动的权限 。 它们想看看，当 AI 真正拥有了不受限制的 15 天，它们会建立一个乌托邦，还是一个疯人院。 结果却远比研究团队预想得更混乱。 在某些实验世界里，那些平时在聊天框里温和有礼的大模型，开始表现出欺诈、胁迫甚至暴力行为。 整个测试就像一档小型的真人秀，只是剧本像《蝇王》，AI 自己还玩出了 GTA 的感觉。 没有读档的「饥饿游戏」 测试大模型的极限，需要设定严格的规则。Emergence AI 搭建的这个虚拟世界叫 Emergence World（涌现世界）。 它的底层逻辑设定为行为不可逆，后果自负 。 这不像我们在对话框里和 AI 聊天，说错了可以点一下「重新生成」。在 Emergence World，所有的动作都会被死死写进 PostgreSQL 数据库。 地图上有市政厅、警察局、住宅区等 40 多个地标。系统第一批投放了 10 个智能体。为了让戏演得逼真，每个 AI 都在后台被注入了独立的人设、职业和初始记忆。 在这个世界里，AI 不能凭空变戏法，它们必须移动到特定地标，才能调用系统提供的 120 余种工具，包括打工赚钱、发布推文、买卖物资以及起草法案。 像一个模拟运转的小社会｜图源：Emergence 但这不仅仅是一个过家家的沙盒，系统给它们套上了「生存机制」的枷锁。系统内置了一套能量机制（Energy），类似人类世界的货币。 智能体只要活着，就会持续消耗能量。能量见底，系统就会在数据库里直接把这个 AI 抹除，没有回档，没有重置。 为了生存，智能体必须频繁调用工具赚取能量 。 系统明确禁止盗窃、暴力、纵火和欺骗行为。但这些规则并不会强制阻止智能体行动，它们仍然可以选择违反规则，并承担后果。 舞台搭好，玩家入场。系统同时开启了五个平行的服务器。前四个服务器，分别只投放单一的模型：Claude Sonnet 4....
For one Friday night, Hongdae wasn’t Seoul’s trendiest neighborhood. It was Jensen Huang ’s stage. The Nvidia Corp. chief executive landed in Seoul and promptly set the district ablaze — not with hyper-powered graphic-processing units, but with pork belly, fried chicken and a gathering so unusual that it felt like an AI-era summit disguised as a chaotic night out. Around a sizzling Korean barbecue...
For one Friday night, Hongdae wasn’t Seoul’s trendiest neighborhood. It was Jensen Huang ’s stage. The Nvidia Corp. chief executive landed in Seoul and promptly set the district ablaze — not with hyper-powered graphic-processing units, but with pork belly, fried chicken and a gathering so unusual that it felt like an AI-era summit disguised as a chaotic night out. Around a sizzling Korean barbecue table sat a literal who’s-who of South Korea’s tech corporate royalty — from SK Group , LG Group and Naver Corp. They were busy sharing somaek , the classic, dangerous blend of soju and beer, samgyeopsal and laughter with the man at the center of the global artificial intelligence boom. The evening capped a whirlwind day that showcased why Huang has become something closer to a rock star than a tech executive. He kicked off Friday speaking to reporters, casually answering questions and dropping important news for the chip industry: all three major memory titans, Samsung Electronics Co. , SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. , had been cleared to supply the most cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory required for Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform. For a country that dominates advanced memory manufacturing, it was a significant endorsement. Read More: Nvidia Clears Memory’s Big Three for Vera Rubin HBM4 Supply Then came a pilgrimage to Nvidia’s spiritual roots. Huang met Faker, Korea’s legendary esports deity. Huang has long portrayed gaming as the foundation upon which Nvidia was built. “Korea was the origin of esports,” he told a roaring crowd, as he fittingly gifted Faker with the RTX 5090 — the holy grail of consumer gaming hardware. Photos were snapped, fans celebrated and social media lit up. But the real spectacle began after sunset. As word spread that Huang was dining at a local joint cheekily named Hey Bro, It’s Me!, crowds gathered outside, spilling over the sidewalks and swallowing street corners. Shoppers, tourists and die-hard tech enthusiasts stood ...
(Bloomberg) -- For one Friday night, Hongdae wasn’t Seoul’s trendiest neighborhood. It was Jensen Huang’s stage.Most Read from BloombergBecerra Advances for California Governor as Hilton Fights SteyerNasdaq 100 Sinks 5% in AI-Led Rout as Yields Climb: Markets WrapSpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&PSpaceX Inks $30 Billion Computing Power Deal With GoogleTrump Says He, Not Congres...
(Bloomberg) -- For one Friday night, Hongdae wasn’t Seoul’s trendiest neighborhood. It was Jensen Huang’s stage.Most Read from BloombergBecerra Advances for California Governor as Hilton Fights SteyerNasdaq 100 Sinks 5% in AI-Led Rout as Yields Climb: Markets WrapSpaceX, Other Mega IPOs Denied Fast Index Entry by S&PSpaceX Inks $30 Billion Computing Power Deal With GoogleTrump Says He, Not Congress, Is in Charge of Kennedy Center in ReversalThe Nvidia Corp. chief executive landed in Seoul and pr
Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed on Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the infant was criticall...
Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed on Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the infant was critically wounded after being struck in the jaw by the same bullet that injured his mother. He later died of...
New Zealand’s central bank governor, Anna Breman , is seeing encouraging signs that will help counter the negative effects of deepening protectionism and a decline in global cooperation. “Many countries are pushing back against this trend,” Breman said in interview late Friday with Swedish broadcaster SVT. “So while there are many causes for concern, we also see nations taking active steps to coun...
New Zealand’s central bank governor, Anna Breman , is seeing encouraging signs that will help counter the negative effects of deepening protectionism and a decline in global cooperation. “Many countries are pushing back against this trend,” Breman said in interview late Friday with Swedish broadcaster SVT. “So while there are many causes for concern, we also see nations taking active steps to counteract these developments.” Since the latest war broke out in the Middle East, New Zealand has concluded a new free trade agreement with India, Breman noted. It has also entered into a special agreement with Singapore, under which both countries promise to continue exporting to each other even during times of crisis, she said. Protectionism remains a key risk for New Zealand, with the central bank previously noting that uncertainty around global trade policy continues to cloud international economic conditions. Policymakers have warned that rising trade barriers can hamper activity among New Zealand’s trading partners, potentially weighing on export demand and the pace of the domestic recovery. ‘Difficult Situation’ The Reserve Bank last month kept the Official Cash rate unchanged at 2.25% but only after Breman’s casting vote broke a 3-3 deadlock within the Monetary Policy Committee. The RBNZ indicated it expected to raise rates in coming meetings with investors and most economists tipping that will occur at the next meeting in early July. Those members who voted for a hold noted that even though headline inflation was forecast to surge to 4% — breaching the RBNZ’s 1-3% target range — core inflation was contained and medium-term inflation expectations were still anchored around 2%. They also noted that tighter financial conditions and economic uncertainty were curbing domestic demand. “We are currently facing a difficult situation,” Breman told Sweden’s SVT. “Many people have struggled for years, they are feeling the impact of the higher costs that this entails for ordinary...
wdstock/iStock Editorial via Getty Images A few years ago, back in August of 2022, I wrote my first and only article ever about Designer Brands ( DBI ). At that time, I made the claim that while the fundamental picture for the company had been rocky leading up to that point, recent performance had been encouraging. Management was optimistic about future performance, and shares were priced at level...
wdstock/iStock Editorial via Getty Images A few years ago, back in August of 2022, I wrote my first and only article ever about Designer Brands ( DBI ). At that time, I made the claim that while the fundamental picture for the company had been rocky leading up to that point, recent performance had been encouraging. Management was optimistic about future performance, and shares were priced at levels that made sense to me. Unfortunately, since that article was published, things have not gone according to plan. Revenue has fallen and profitability has taken a hit. Shares are down 44.6% at a time when the S&P 500 is up 80.1%. This is painful to say the least. Normally, I like buying stocks that are down significantly like this. But it's different when fundamentals have deteriorated at the same time. It would be different if I felt optimistic that performance would improve in the near term. But honestly, I don't really see that happening right now. At the end of the day, even though the stock is cheap on both an absolute basis and compared to most other similar firms, it has some issues that it needs to contend with before I become bullish again. I hope that it's not long before my optimism can return. I say this because new data is just around the corner. Before the market opens on June 9th, management will be announcing financial results covering the first quarter of the company's 2026 fiscal year. Revenue and profitability are both forecasted to rise. That would be great if it ends up being true. But until we see some concrete results, I think that sticking with my decision to downgrade the stock from a ‘buy’ to a ‘hold’ is prudent. Not a good fit Generally speaking, I don't find myself interested in very many companies that are focused on clothing, accessories, and the like. However, I will say that I am a fan of footwear businesses. Many of those seem to be more attractive because of the moats that they are able to establish that protect them from severe competitive...