22/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2026

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Chinese AI shines, but faces growing pains

Japan to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant KARIWA: The world’s biggest nuclear power plant was set to restart yesterday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator said, despite persistent safety concerns among residents. The governor of Niigata province, where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is located, approved its resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided. After receving the final green light yesterday, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said they were “proceeding with preparations – and plan to remove the control rods after 7pm yesterday and start up the reactor”. On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters – mostly elderly – braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant’s entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast. “It’s Tokyo’s electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense,“ Yumiko Abe, a 73-year old resident, told AFP. Around 60% of residents oppose the restart, while 37% support it, according to a survey conducted in September. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven would be restarting yesterday. The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011. However, resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source. Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operation since the post-Fukushima shutdown under strict safety rules, with 13 running as of mid January. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit would be the first run by Tepco – which also operates the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, now being decommissioned – to restart since 2011. Nearly 15 years after the disaster, “the situation is still not under control in Fukushima, and Tepco wants to revive a plant? For me, that’s absolutely unacceptable,“ said Keisuke Abe, an 81 year-old demonstrator. The vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has been fitted with a 50ft tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems and other safety upgrades. However, residents raised concerns about the risk of a serious accident, citing frequent cover-up scandals, minor accidents and evacuation plans they say are inadequate. “I think it’s impossible to evacuate in an emergency,“ Chie Takakuwa, a 79 year-old resident of Kariwa, told AFP. On Jan 8, seven groups opposing the restart submitted a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people to Tepco and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority. The petition said the plant sits on an active seismic fault zone and noted it was struck by a strong quake in 2007. Japan’s nuclear industry has also faced a string of scandals and incidents in recent weeks, including data falsification by Chubu Electric Power to underestimate seismic risks.

trillion), it does not expect to be profitable before 2029 owing to huge outlays to build the computing infrastructure it relies on. Zhipu AI and Minimax are also logging increasing losses while costs, including for training new AI models, rise. Both are “burning cash faster than they can generate sustainable revenue streams”, analyst Poe Zhao, founder of Hello China Tech, told AFP. US restrictions bar the most advanced, energy-efficient AI chips on the market, made by US company Nvidia, from sale in China. Using domestic chipsets, Chinese AI developers need two to four times more computational power to train their models, according to Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia. Zhao and other analysts call 2026 a critical test for the global AI sector as it chases elusive monetisation prospects. Whether companies “can move beyond coding and unlock real commercial value” is vital to their survival, Zhao said. Koda Chen said his firm Suanova Technology, which provides and invests in computing power for Chinese AI companies, has identified opportunities in finance and healthcare. He sees this year as a “turning point” for China’s AI businesses to

achieve profitability in more sectors. “Clients are developing payment habits, and products are gaining customer stickiness,” the Suanova CEO said. China is handing out massive subsidies to support AI innovation and its industrial policies also illustrate its ambition to compete with the US in the sector. Beijing this month announced plans to deploy three to five general purpose large AI models in manufacturing by 2027. The government said it also planned to strengthen supplies of computing power. These moves show the country is serious about AI driving the real-world economy, Futurum’s Patience said. China “is trying to build the AI powered factory of the world”, he said. The large language model market in China, still in its early stages, is estimated to grow to US$14.5 billion by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan, with the future unit price of computing power expected to decline. China’s engineering talent base and the lower cost of generating electricity there work in its favour, said Tang Heiwai, an economics professor at the University of Hong Kong. “These factors would grant China greater resilience in development than the US as an AI superpower,” he said.

o Cash burn, chip sanctions and weak monetisation cloud long-term outlook

HONG KONG: Investor confidence in Chinese AI startups is riding high, but obstacles to their long-term success range from US export controls to the puzzle of how to become profitable. This month, two leading players in China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry – Zhipu AI and MiniMax – made dazzling debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The pair are part of a wave of rapidly growing Chinese “AI tigers” spurred by another startup DeepSeek, whose low-cost AI model on par with US rivals, stunned the world a year ago. But Zhipu AI’s co-founder Tang Jie warned later that despite the achievements of Chinese companies in large open-source AI models, the gap with the US “may actually be widening”. DeepSeek and other top Chinese AI providers have focused on free, open-source technology – a strategy that can attract users fast but brings in less cash than private, closed systems. “Large-scale models in the US are still mostly closed-source... we need to acknowledge challenges and gaps BENGALURU: Gold were boosted to record high above US$4,800 (RM19,445) per ounce yesterday, as investors looked to the metal as a safe haven after a broad selloff in US assets on heightened tensions between the US and Nato over Greenland. Spot gold climbed 2.1% to US$4,862.46 per ounce by 0446 GMT, after scaling a record US$4,865.73 earlier in the session. US gold futures for February delivery climbed 2% to US$4,861.20 per ounce. “It’s the loss of trust in the US caused by Trump’s moves over the weekend to tariff European countries and increase coercion in trying to take Greenland. (The move in gold) reflects fears about global geopolitical (tensions),“ said Kyle Rodda, a senior market analyst at Capital.com. On Tuesday, Trump said there was “no going back”on his goal to control Greenland, refusing to rule out taking the Arctic island by force and lashing out at Nato allies. He later said, “we will work something out where Nato is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy.” Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would not give in to bullies or be intimidated, in a scathing criticism of Trump’s threat of steep tariffs at Davos if Europe does not let him take over Greenland. “I think crossing US$4,800 just reinforces that, people don’t want to prices

we face,” Tang said at a conference in Beijing. Geopolitical struggles could also hold Chinese AI back. US export sanctions on advanced microchips used to train and run AI systems, as well as precision chipmaking equipment, have been cited as a key constraint by top industry figures. “The challenge isn’t just technology,” Nick Patience, practice lead for AI at tech research group Futurum, told AFP. “It’s the high cost of computing under sanctions and the delicate balance of innovating within a strict regulatory framework.” Shares in Zhipu AI, a major provider of chatbot tools to Chinese businesses, have soared 80% since it went public. MiniMax, which targets the consumer market with its multimedia AI tools, has seen even stronger gains. Their IPOs came ahead of any such move from OpenAI, the San Francisco-based startup behind the phenomenally popular ChatGPT. Although OpenAI’s value has ballooned in funding rounds to a staggering US$500 billion (RM2

Gold breaks US$4,800 as Greenland tensions rise

Geopolitical fears spark broad selloff in US assets, lifting gold to record highs. – UNSPLASH PIX

Spot silver fell 0.1% to US$94.48 an ounce, after hitting a record high of US$95.87 on Tuesday. Spot platinum lost 0.5% to US$2,449.98 per ounce after hitting a record US$2,511.80 earlier in the day, while palladium was up 0.1% at US$1,866.46. – Reuters

near one-month low after White House threats over Greenland triggered a broad selloff in US assets, from the currency to Wall Street stocks and Treasury bonds. A weaker dollar makes greenback priced metals cheaper for overseas buyers.

sell gold before US$5,000. It’s a combination of the traditional supporters for gold, which is rising debt, a weakening dollar and geopolitical uncertainty,“ said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery. The dollar index languished at a