Apple Preps iPhone Duo Launch; Tencent Yuanqi to Shut Down; SpaceXAI Renamed SpaceXSI

In Guangzhou, Cook told APPSO that developers should make full use of the larger, more immersive screen, explore different ways of using it, and consider different grip angles. Xmind's Guangzhou food map changed with the device's open and closed forms; the team said it completed adaptation in half a month and designed a half-screen outline mode for the hinge, allowing mind map and outline to work side by side. APPSO observed that some apps add spacing on both sides of the hinge so interactive areas avoid the crease. Guangdong Governor Meng Fanli met Cook the same day; Cook said Guangdong is vital to Apple's development in China and Apple is willing to expand its business in the province in supply chain, innovation ecosystem, smart manufacturing, green manufacturing, and sales channels.

Apple COO Sabih Khan visited Foxconn's Zhengzhou Science and Technology Park and Yuto Technology's Xuchang factory on Oct. 11. Apple's media materials disclosed parts of the manufacturing process for the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro series, from screens and cameras to chip packaging and packaging boxes. At Foxconn, Apple and suppliers built custom equipment for the iPhone Duo hinge area: a confocal laser scans the screen substrate layer by layer, machine-learning algorithms generate a filling plan, and micron-level 3D printing forms up to 25 layers of photosensitive polymer to create a flat support substrate. The iPhone 18 Pro series mechanical variable aperture camera uses dual active alignment stations that read upstream optical calibration data and complete precise assembly. For chips, an electromagnetic shielding layer is sputtered directly onto the SoC package surface instead of using a traditional metal shield; Apple said this reduces module thickness by 20 percent and improves heat dissipation.

At Yuto's Xuchang factory, Apple showed inline printing, automatic assembly, and quality inspection for iPhone 18 Pro series packaging boxes. Water-based coatings replace plastic film, which Apple said cuts more than 3,000 tonnes of plastic annually under the disclosed material assumptions. A jointly developed intelligent optical inspection device can capture 64 images in 1.9 seconds to check packaging box appearance. Apple also introduced a manufacturing AI application course open to more than 30 factories in China, with online videos and offline practice. An industrial engineer in the course built an SOP comparison tool that uploads old and new work procedures, marks changes, and generates a summary.

MacRumors reported that Apple may partner with U.S. home security company ADT to provide in-home installation for its upcoming smart-home hub and related accessories. Apple has invited media to a Welcome home event in New York on Oct. 13, and the report speculated the partnership could be announced then. The report cited low-voltage technicians ADT hired in recent months. Some new employees said they mainly followed other technicians and did not yet know full responsibilities; some employees and managers signed confidentiality agreements. These employees received iPhones as work phones, while other technicians use Android devices. Some new hires were told the role involves home automation and in-home installation, and job details originally scheduled for September were delayed to October. MacRumors speculated the technicians may install wall-mounted home hubs or accessories Apple develops with partners such as LG. The partnership remains a rumor, and it is not confirmed whether it covers home security monitoring. MacRumors also cited people familiar with the matter saying ADT's exclusive agreement with Google recently expired and will not be renewed, and Google is turning to AT&T.

MacRumors, citing Mark Gurman, reported that Apple is preparing new displays and many demo units for the iPhone Duo, which goes on sale Oct. 23. The Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York will have a dedicated area, most stores will add a display table, and new fixtures will show the phone folding and unfolding. Allocation varies: Fifth Avenue is expected to receive more than 150 demo units, the Apple Park visitor center nearly 100, and ordinary stores about 20 on average. Three stores in Chicago on Michigan Avenue, The Grove in Los Angeles, and Manhattan's Upper West Side are expected to each get 30 to 40 units. Apple also designed a MagSafe stand that can display one unfolded iPhone Duo and two regular iPhones at the same time, and some areas will offer phones without security tethers so customers can try StandBy. Stores will also have Presto devices adapted for the new phone to update software without opening the box. U.S. stores plan to greet buyers by name in English or Spanish on first boot. Gurman said Apple had worried that production constraints could push sales to late November, but it has now stocked enough to launch as planned, though supply will remain limited. Preorders start Oct. 16.

Tencent's Yuanqi agent platform announced it will stop service on Nov. 9 because of business adjustments, following QClaw's planned shutdown. Yuanqi's team said in an Oct. 8 notice that existing agents will also become unavailable. The shutdown will proceed in two steps: on Oct. 29, the platform will stop creating new agents and distributing API keys; on Nov. 9, it will close app access, data read/write, APIs, and the console. Agents previously published to official accounts, service accounts, WeChat Customer Service, and other channels will no longer respond. Users can export agent configurations, workflows, and conversation records. After the shutdown, the data export console will remain during a transition period until Jan. 9, 2027; after that, user data will be deleted, except logs that must be retained under law. Tencent recommends migrating to Tencent Cloud's ADP agent development platform or using official account smart replies, and offers migration benefits and refunds for original resources. QClaw announced on Sept. 24 that it will stop operating at midnight on Dec. 24. A Tencent representative previously told Yicai that the company is further integrating resources and providing QClaw users a migration tool to WorkBuddy.

SpaceXAI's official social account changed its display name to SpaceX Super Intelligence and its username to @SpaceXSI. A screenshot Musk posted on Oct. 10 showed the change; SI stands for Super Intelligence, and the account still lists the x.ai website. The change followed Musk's public remarks. In an Oct. 4 X post, he wrote that SpaceX is a super intelligence company. According to TechSpot's report on the interaction, when a user asked whether SpaceXAI would change to SpaceXSI, Musk replied yes. The early October remarks previewed the change, and the screenshot and official account now show it has taken effect. Publicly available information covers the social account name and username change.

NIO said on Oct. 11 that it simultaneously opened six fifth-generation battery swap stations in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Huizhou, Dongguan, Foshan, and Zhuhai, bringing Guangdong's total to 500. The company said NIO battery swap stations in Guangdong have provided more than 17 million swaps. As of Oct. 11, NIO had 9,584 charging and swapping stations nationwide, including 4,176 swap stations. Its highway network has 1,073 swap stations covering 9 vertical and 11 horizontal corridors and 16 major city clusters, connecting more than 550 cities.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers issued an initiative on Oct. 11 calling on automakers to abandon irrational innovation that values form over safety, put safety assessment at the front of the product innovation process, and improve R&D testing and validation systems. The association said some designs that one-sidedly pursue innovation gimmicks and ignore safety bottom lines, as well as insufficient R&D testing, create risks for product safety and industry development. Its proposals include regulating innovative design, strengthening comprehensive vehicle reliability and adaptability validation in complex environments, and using sufficient testing to ensure product safety. The initiative responds to a draft notice on auto product innovation design and R&D testing validation management issued for public comment on Oct. 10 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the State Administration for Market Regulation. The document is still in the public comment stage.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called on companies in an Oct. 10 X post to build emergency brakes for powerful AI systems: authorized people should always be able to pause or shut down a model while it is executing a task. Enterprises cannot rely only on model providers' safety guarantees and must assume from the start that models may be compromised and prepare isolation and controls. Nadella said traditional software behavior can be traced to specific code paths, but current model behavior is hard to map to a particular training data point or weight configuration. Companies have already given such systems access to sensitive data and let them perform critical tasks, so they must revisit trust architectures. He stressed that treating models as an internal risk does not mean assuming they are malicious, but that any powerful actor with access to important systems can make mistakes or be compromised. He proposed separating the model, the execution framework that orchestrates its work, and the scope of actions it is allowed to take, with permissions and guardrails outside the model. Even using another model for adversarial testing may only put an opaque model in charge of supervising another opaque model and cannot independently prove reliability. Specific measures include not letting a single model become the sole dependency for important outcomes or verify its own work; leaving tamper-proof, human-readable records for each important action and continuously testing failures, attacks, and edge cases; and having enterprises independently decide access permissions and action scope while retaining independent audits, human mid-task shutdown, and timely disclosure of safety incidents.

Avatr's T09 concept car made its global debut on Oct. 11. The flagship SUV was jointly designed by Avatr and Huawei Qiankun, follows the styling direction of the VISION XPECTRA concept, and has four lidars. It features crystal diamond array headlights, a sculptural grille, and a through-type taillight. The body is divided by crimson red and cotton white two-tone colors, and the D-pillar has an illuminated badge. The interior interactive screen extends to both sides and integrates with the doors. Earlier filing information showed the T09 is a six-seat model measuring 5,285 mm long, 2,025 mm wide, and 3,150 mm in wheelbase, with two powertrains: one with a 1.5-liter engine and front and rear dual motors, and another with a 2.0-liter engine and three motors. The debut model is still a concept version, and the filing parameters and debut design correspond to different stages of information.

Walmart opened its Futian KK ONE store in Shenzhen on Oct. 11, its 49th store in the city and Shenzhen's first new-generation store. Within the previous month, the same store format opened in Chengdu's Wenjiang district and Nanning. The new store uses a single-floor compact layout and a U-shaped traffic flow, lowers shelf heights and widens main aisles to improve visibility, and places high-frequency categories such as fresh food at the front, with table ingredients displayed together. It offers about 10,000 SKUs, highlights the private brand Wojixian, and sets up multiple tasting stations. The format also adjusts food displays and product mixes, adding short-shelf-life fresh food, bakery products, and seasonal goods. Wojixian's seasonal launch centers on osmanthus, covering drinks, baked goods, and compound seasonings, extending seasonal flavors to home kitchens.

Variety reported that Hong Kong sales company Cappu Films has picked up the sci-fi action thriller Overstake, which uses generative AI to rebuild scenes and appeared at the Busan film market. Laika's stop-motion film Wildwood premiered after 16 years of development. Blade Runner 2099 released a new trailer in which Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer investigate the disappearance of replicants.