Daily Buzz: 17 February 2026

AI and Robots Wow TV Viewers in China's New Year Gala

Alibaba's AI health app avatar Dr Afu and humanoid robots from Unitree, Magiclab, Galbot and Noetix stole the show during the annual China Central Television entertainment gala on Monday evening, marking the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday called Spring Festival. For a second year on China's most watched TV show, Unitree robots performed martial arts, exhibiting their prowess in stunts like a 3-meter aerial flip, single-leg flips and an airflare grand spin of seven-and-a-half rotations. Humanoid robots from the other three companies appeared in comedy skits, dances and micro-movies, attesting to the nation's drive to be a global leader in robotic development.

The Year of the Horse begins today in China as Spring Festival again triggers the world's largest annual movement of people, with millions of residents returning to hometowns for family reunions or going on vacations. On the first day of the nine-day national holiday alone, authorities predicted more than 285 million inter-regional passenger trips, with rail traffic rising 4.3 percent, air travel increasing 6.4 percent and road trips jumping 10.8 percent.

The centerpiece of the holiday is the traditional family reunion feast on the eve of the new year, followed by the TV gala and midnight fireworks. According to Chinese astrology, people born in a horse year are confident, intelligent and responsible, though they also tend to be impatient and chafe at being reined in by others. Spring Festival is also celebrated in Chinese communities around the world. The extended celebration period ends with the Lantern Festival, which falls this year on March 3.

EU Official Condemns 'Fashionable Euro-Bashing' by US

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rejected what she called "fashionable euro-bashing" by Washington, following a Munich Security Conference that exposed continuing rifts in the trans-Atlantic alliance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in language aimed at sugar-coating differences, told the conference that the US values the alliance but European leaders must change their stance to be more in tune with Trump administration policies. Kallas called it "a conditional offer to cooperate with Europe" and added, echoing Rubio's words, "Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure." The EU has clashed with US policies related to Greenland, migration, tariffs, Ukraine and the threat posed by Russia.

China Extends Visa-Free Entry to Canadian, UK Residents

China is extending visa-free tourist entry to Canadian and British nationals, effective today. The policy exempts ordinary passport holders from visas for visits of up to 30 days for business, tourisms and reunions with family or friends. China has already placed dozens of other countries under the successful program, which it began in 2024 to revive tourism after the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli West Bank Land Register Called 'De Facto Annexation'

The Israeli government has advanced a registration system for land in the West Bank that right-wing politicians say will increase Jewish settlements across the territory, CNN reported. The office of the Palestinian president decried the move as "de facto annexation of occupied Palestinian territory." Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war and has been steadily increasing Jewish settlements in an area the UN recognizes as occupied territory and part of a Palestinian state in the future. The move is also considered a setback for the fragile Gaza peace plan. Meanwhile in Gaza, 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza this weekend. The Israeli military said it has struck terrorist targets in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas. The Gaza cease-fire brokered by the US last October has been broken by near-daily violations, the BBC said.

Top Business

ByteDance Promises to Respect Copyrights After Disney Threat

China tech giant ByteDance, which operates TikTok, pledged to prevent use of copyrighted content on its new AI video-making tool Seedance 2.0, following threats of legal action from Disney and other Hollywood studios. In recent days, videos generated by the app have gone viral, including one featuring actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight, Reuters reported. Seedance 2.0 is capable of producing cinematic storylines with minimal prompts. Disney, in a cease-and-desist letter, accused ByteDance of tapping a "pirated library" of franchises Marvel, Star Wars and other copyright characters. "We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users," ByteDance said in a statement.

Separately, fears that the rollout of the new TikTok structure in the US would cause an exodus of users have failed to materialize. Under pressure from the Trump administration, ByteDance divested control of its US operations in January to a US-backed consortium led by Oracle, with the Beijing-based company retaining a 19.9 percent stake. According to market tracking firm Sensor Town, the average number of TikTok users has remained at about 95 percent of original subscribers after initial user discontent when the new owners announced more extensive data collection.

Alibaba Unveils Qwen 3.5 Model

On the eve of China's Spring Festival, tech giant Alibaba unveiled Qwen 3.5, the newest version of its flagship artificial intelligence model. The tech giant said the upgrade executes complex tasks independently, outperforming leading US models in certain benchmarks while reducing operational costs by 60 percent, compared with previous version. The upgraded version can analyze videos up to two hours in length. Chinese AI companies, including ByteDance, Zhipu and MiniMax, have recently released an array of upgrades ahead of the widely anticipated release of DeepSeek's latest model.

X Crashes Across Several Regions

Social media platform X crashed on Monday across several regions of the world, affecting both the website and app. Users in the UK, US, France, India and Australia reported issues with logging in, searching, posting tweets and refreshing timelines, among other problems. The site's last large-scale crash affected thousands of users only a half a month ago.

Economy & Markets

MiniMax, Zhipu Continue Bull Run in Hong Kong

Hong Kong shares of Chinese chipmaker MiniMax surged 25 percent on Monday in Hong Kong in a half-day session ahead of the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and rival Zhipu AI gained 4.7 percent. Both companies have been on a hot streak since releasing upgrades to their AI models, sending their shares up about 300 percent since their market debuts in January, the South China Morning Post reported. MiniMax last week released an upgrade to its flagship model, which it says compares with Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6. The benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 0.5 percent on Monday, with its tech index managing a 0.1 percent gain. Among Chinese mainland companies on the tech index, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) and car and smartphone maker Xiaomi posted gains, but Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan and JD.com lost ground. Mainland stocks markets are closed until February 24 for the new year holiday.

Oil Prices Rise Ahead of Iran-US Talks

Global oil prices rose ahead of Tuesday's US-Iran talks in Geneva, amid doubts that negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program will produce any breakthrough. Benchmark Brent crude futures settled up 1.3 percent at US$68.66 a barrel. Traders worry that a failure to reduce tensions will disrupt supplies. Markets were thinly traded on Monday because of holidays in the US and parts of Asia. US President Donald Trump has moved two carrier strike forces to the Middle East, warning of attacks on Iran if no deal is forthcoming.

Japan's Economy Ekes Out Small Gain in Growth

Japan's economy in the nation's fiscal third quarter ended December 31 eked out 0.1 percent growth from the prior quarter, following a 0.7 percent contraction in the July-September period. The economy narrowly avoided a technical recession, which is defined as back-to-back quarters of contraction. The latest quarter of growth missed market forecasts, CNBC reported. On an annual basis, growth in the October-December period rose 0.2 percent, as private consumption offset weakness in exports and public spending, according to Japan's Cabinet Office. The Bank of Japan has forecast growth of 0.9 percent in the fiscal year ending March 31.

Corporate

RedNote Platform Restricts Untagged AI Content

Popular Chinese social media platform RedNote (Xiaohongshu) is restricting AI-generated content that is not properly labeled after widespread industry controversy about videos impersonating public figures and producing fake content. The policy comes as Chinese regulators step up scrutiny of untagged and misleading AI content. In a statement, Red Note said some AI-generated posts had failed to include active labels, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of public figures and undermining user trust.

Warner Bros May Reconsider Paramount Bid

In the twisting saga surrounding the blockbuster sale of Warner Bros Discovery, the Hollywood company said it is considering reopening talks with Paramount Skydance, a hostile suitor in the takeover battle, Bloomberg News reported. Warner Bros initially agreed to accept a cash-and-stock offer from Netflix valued at US$82.7 billion. The object of the takeover battle is Warner Bros' vast film library, including major franchises like "Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter" and DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman. Paramount recently sweetened its cash bid by offering shareholders extra cash for each quarter the deal fails to close and also agreed to cover the US$2.8 billion breakup cost Warner Bros would owe Netflix if it walked away from the original agreement.