Ctrip Lists RMB 5.1 Million Virgin Galactic Tickets as Aito Shifts to Seres-Led Model

The Ctrip listing, reported by media, is described as the most expensive space tourism product publicly sold in China. The six-day trip departs from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Travelers must first fly to the United States themselves, and visa, airfare and insurance costs are not included in the 5.1 million yuan price. The first four days are training, with the launch scheduled for the fifth day. Virgin Galactic’s previous-generation spacecraft has retired, and the project now relies on the Delta-class spacecraft. Commercial flights are scheduled to restart in February 2027, with additional spacecraft to follow.

A court in Jixi, Heilongjiang, has sealed a property owned by Hulin Hongsheng Beverage Co., formerly Hulin Wahaha Beverage Co., according to a public notice. The seal runs for three years, from Aug. 20, 2026, to Aug. 20, 2029. An internal employee said the sealed property is an office building, not a production plant. A former employee who left after the plant shut down said the measure was a property preservation request by the Jixi Housing Provident Fund Management Center, and a staff member at the center’s Hulin office confirmed the sealing was related to provident fund recovery. The former employee said more than 100 workers were owed more than 2 million yuan in housing provident fund contributions before the plant closed.

HarmonyOS Smart Mobility issued a statement on the afternoon of Sept. 15 responding to changes in Huawei’s cooperation with Seres. It said Aito remains part of the HarmonyOS Smart Mobility family. Under the new model, Seres will lead product definition, product design, brand marketing, channel retail and service, while Huawei Terminal will participate in enabling. Existing rights and future services for Aito users are unaffected. The adjustment does not affect other HarmonyOS Smart Mobility brands—Zunjie, Xiangjie, Zhijie and Shangjie—which continue to use Huawei’s full-process leadership model. A person familiar with the matter said Huawei has not withdrawn and Aito remains one of the five “jie” brands. Aito will adopt an “exclusive, dedicated” model, with independent sales channels; in addition to direct-operated and franchise stores, some former HarmonyOS Smart Mobility stores will be allocated to Seres and will display and sell only Aito vehicles. Aito will continue to strengthen its high-end positioning.

Tesla has revised several vehicle parameters in the Model YL owner’s manual after owners reported rear-wheel sag, media learned. The total height was reduced from 1,668 mm to 1,664 mm, laden ground clearance from 122 mm to 118 mm, and unladen ground clearance from 169 mm to 166 mm. Owners said Model YL vehicles less than a year old developed rear-wheel sag during long trips, narrowing the gap between the rear wheel arch and tire and affecting stability and safety. Some owners reported the problem returned after spring replacement and questioned whether it was a common defect. Tesla has not formally responded. A person familiar with the matter said the manual was revised recently. A Tesla customer service representative said no related notice or information was available.

Apple released the official version of iOS 27 on Sept. 15. The Clock app adds a workday alarm that supports statutory holidays and compensatory workdays in mainland China, according to media reports. The system can recognize and sync mainland holiday and make-up work schedules. When setting an alarm repeat cycle, users can choose “workday (including adjusted workdays)” and mix regular workdays, make-up workdays and custom cycles. The alarm rings on weekend make-up workdays and stays silent on statutory holidays or normal rest days. Apple customer service advised against updating iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models to iOS 27, saying iPhone 13 and later models can update normally and users may wait to observe stability.

DeepSeek released v4.1, and its operator lead Liu Shengyu published a long article titled “I Have to Bury My Talent in Yesterday.” He wrote that he wrote the main Attention operators for v4.1 and that the model’s performance is recognition of his work, but he believes AI-written operators will likely match or surpass his within six months to a year. He also wrote that humans have never hesitated to destroy themselves, and that if he must be revolutionized, he hopes the person revolutionizing him is himself. He said he would not necessarily lose his job but must change careers, moving from operator engineer to an “Agent mech pilot.”

Foreign media reported that ByteDance’s net profit fell 7.82% year on year in the first half of 2026 as it increased AI investment. Revenue rose 30% year on year, with overseas income reaching a new high, driven by TikTok and other overseas businesses. ByteDance did not comment on the data. Douyin still contributes most of ByteDance’s revenue, while overseas revenue mainly from TikTok has exceeded 30% of total revenue; overseas revenue accounted for 25% in 2024 and 30% in 2025. ByteDance develops large language and video models, operates Doubao, is expanding its AI cloud business and offers model services to enterprise customers. Its Seedance video-generation model is among the leaders in the global AI video market. ByteDance recently obtained about $30 billion in bank loans, its largest loan ever, to fund rising AI investment.

Japanese media compared financial reports from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron, Kioxia, SanDisk and ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT. CXMT’s operating profit for April to June 2026 was about 1.9 trillion yen, with an operating margin of 82%, surpassing SK Hynix’s 76% and Samsung’s semiconductor business at 70% to rank first among global memory chip companies. CXMT mainly makes general-purpose DRAM, including DDR5. Samsung and SK Hynix have prioritized capacity for HBM used in AI servers, reducing general DDR5 supply and driving up prices, from which CXMT benefited most. HBM is usually covered by annual supply agreements with cloud service providers, while DDR5 prices fluctuate with the market. Samsung, SK Hynix and Kioxia have single-digit price-to-earnings ratios, while CXMT is near 20 times, reflecting higher investor growth expectations. In NAND, Yangtze Memory Technologies has filed for an IPO and reached a 14% shipment share in the second quarter, ranking third globally and close to Kioxia at 14%, Micron at 13% and SanDisk at 13%. Japanese media said that if Chinese makers release capacity and go on the offensive, the existing memory market structure could be rewritten.

Xiaomi announced that the Xiaomi 18 Pro series will launch this month, with details to be released gradually. Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing said it will be the most significant and comprehensive upgrade of Xiaomi’s digital flagship series. Leaks say the series will debut Qualcomm’s 2nm flagship SoC across the lineup, with cross-generational upgrades in the popular rear display, imaging, battery life and AI. Lu Weibing said the Xiaomi 18 Pro series will feature a new versatile rear screen. Due to rising memory costs and the upgrades, the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to start at 6,999 yuan and 7,999 yuan.

GAC Group announced on the night of Sept. 14 that it signed an intent agreement with China FAW Co. to plan a share issuance to buy part of FAW’s equity in a vehicle joint venture and raise supporting funds. Media later said the joint venture is FAW Toyota Motor Co. GAC will not buy all of FAW’s stake, meaning FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota will not merge in the transaction. The deal is unlikely to involve FAW Toyota Motor Sales Co. and will not directly lead to a merger of GAC Toyota and FAW Toyota. After the deal, FAW Toyota will continue to exist, with FAW, GAC and Toyota as shareholders, and Toyota Motor will become FAW Toyota’s largest shareholder. A source said FAW may hold about 30% of GAC after the transaction. The focus is not integration of the two joint ventures but FAW Group gaining a formal stake in GAC through resource exchange. GAC said that after the deal, FAW will become its second-largest shareholder with strategic influence.

Luo Yonghao posted comments on mainstream foldable phones and Apple. He said Samsung’s foldable design remains ahead in appearance, but its system needs work; vivo has invested in the foldable operating system and shows innovation, but third-party app makers have not actively adapted, causing small problems in use. On Apple’s foldable phone, he wrote: “Cook is comfortable, playing cards with the world’s best tech legacy; whatever he does is justified. Everything comes late, all kinds of low-level mistakes, and all kinds of buckets of money.” Luo has criticized Apple before, including after the first foldable iPhone Duo appeared, when he said several designs borrowed from existing industry solutions.

On Sept. 15, the topic “WeChat AI privacy” trended on Weibo. A WeChat employee using the name “Kecun Xiaojiang” responded to controversy over whether WeChat AI assistant Xiaowei leaks user privacy and made four clarifications. According to the response, Xiaowei is still in limited internal testing and is a native AI assistant developed by the WeChat team. Claims that it directly reads chat records are false, the employee said.