Enterprise

Xiaomi announces three new manufacturing plants in India

Two for smartphones and one for smart TVs

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Xiaomi announced it’ll be opening three new manufacturing facilities in India to boost its local presence and supply chain. Two of them shall be dedicated to smartphones while the third ones for smart TVs.

Xiaomi’s India Head and Global Vice President, Manu Kumar Jain, said that 99 percent of its smartphones sold in India and 100 percent of its televisions will now be manufactured within the country.

In a briefing to GadgetMatch, he said that Xiaomi has been assembling phones and TVs in India for a while now. But many components are still imported, and the company is trying to reduce this as much as possible. Xiaomi has partnered with DBG India, and its plant in Haryana is already functional.

The second facility will be set up in Tamil Nadu by Chinese electronics maker BYD. The two plants are strategically located to ensure the supply chain runs smoothly across the country. For the smart TVs, Xiaomi has tied up with Hyderabad-based television manufacturer Radiant.

The Chinese phone maker has already tied up with Foxconn and Flex for smartphones and Dixon Technologies for televisions. Jain even went on to say that a vast majority of the phone components that include printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) and sub-boards, chargers and battery, back panels are domestically manufactured in the country.

Jain also proudly said in the briefing that Xiaomi now employs 60,000 people in India via its many facilities, retail units, and back-end operations. Xiaomi’s investment in India isn’t surprising because it has been serious about the market for years and has solidified its standing as an indisputable leader.

The Indian government recently kicked-off a billion-dollar scheme to encourage local sourcing. Also dubbed Production Linked Incentive (PLI), the government is ready to offer subsidies and tariff reliefs for companies that are open to localization. The program has worked wonders for companies on the electronics front, and thousands of jobs are being generated.

Despite competition from Samsung, realme, OPPO, and vivo, the company has largely remained unscathed. However, the brand is still in warm waters due to geopolitical instability between India and China. The anti-China sentiment has affected many Chinese players like Huawei, TikTok, Alibaba, and more. But Xiaomi and other mobile phone markers have avoided controversy by amalgamating with the local market and the workforce.

Enterprise

AgiBot robots can now learn skills on the factory floor

Robotics company deploys real-world reinforcement learning system

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Robotics company AgiBot has successfully deployed its Real-World Reinforcement Learning (RW-RL) system on a pilot production line with Longcheer Technology.

The company specializes in embodied intelligence, and the project marks the first application of RW-RL in real industrial robotics.

It connects advanced AI innovation with large-scale production, signaling a new phase in the evolution of intelligent automation for precision manufacturing.

Precision manufacturing lines have long relied on rigid automation systems that demand complex fixture design, extensive tuning, and costly reconfiguration.

Where AgiBot’s RW-RL system comes in is addressing such pain points. It enables robots to learn and adapt directly on the factory floor.

Within just minutes, robots can acquire new skills, achieve stable deployment, and maintain long-term performance without degradation.

The system also autonomously compensates for common variations, such as part position and tolerance shifts

Meanwhile, during line changes or model transitions, only minimal adjustments and standardized deployment steps are required. This dramatically improves flexibility while cutting time and cost.

Moreover, AgiBot’s system allows for flexible reconfiguration. Task or product changes can be accommodated through fast retraining; such solution exhibits generality across workplace layouts and production lines.

This milestone signifies a deep integration between perception-decision intelligence and motion control. And it represents a critical step forward unifying algorithmic intelligence and physical execution.

Unlike many laboratory demonstrations, AgiBot’s system also achieved validation under near-production conditions. It has completed a full loop from cutting-edge research to industrial-grade verification.

Moving forward, AgiBot and Longcheer plan to extend real-world reinforcement learning to a broader range of scenarios. These include consumer electronics and automotive components, with focus on developing modular and rapidly deployable robot solutions.

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Enterprise

Netflix might acquire HBO Max

Specifically, they might buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

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Once again, Warner Bros. Discovery is up for sale. Right now, the entertainment giant does not have a new owner yet. But, of course, there is a growing list of potential suitors. One of which has seemingly made its presence known. Netflix is reportedly considering a bid on its streaming rival.

In 2022, the then-named WarnerMedia, owned by AT&T, completed a blockbuster merger with Discovery. The new Warner Bros. Discovery brought the entire Warner library, HBO, Discovery, and Cartoon Network under a single umbrella. The resulting streaming service, dubbed HBO Max, now has enough content to rival Netflix and Disney+.

Recently, Warner Bros. Discovery put itself up for sale. Almost immediately, competitors have expressed interest in buying the library, including Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.

Over the weekend, Netflix has hired Moelis & Co, an investment bank, to evaluate a potential offer for the company, as reported by Reuters. Though it’s not an official bid yet, it’s a big show of interest from the other streaming giant.

According to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, the company will evaluate what value the entire library can offer Netflix. However, Sarandos isn’t interested in acquiring the legacy cable networks currently under the Warner umbrella, such as CNN and TNT.

SEE ALSO: Max is rebranding once again to HBO Max

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Enterprise

US caught dumping ‘millions of tons’ of e-waste into Southeast Asia

This includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

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Where do all old devices go after we’re done using them? If you’ve ever been in a place with a good recycling system, then you’ve probably seen bins for e-waste. Then again, you can go further down the chain and ask where these bins go. If you’re an American, a new report has an answer for you: Southeast Asia.

A Seattle-based organization called the Basel Action Network (or BAN, for short) conducted a two-year investigation on e-waste produced by the United States. The investigation revealed that at least ten American companies are shipping millions of tons of waste to several countries in Southeast Asia and the United Arab Emirates. These Asian countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

According to ABC News, a few of the ten companies implicated have refuted that the imports are well within environmental standards and do not include harmful chemicals. Notably, these importers don’t handle the recycling themselves. Though their own processes might be legally allowed, the imports might still enable environmental hazards.

Regardless, the importing of e-waste is banned under an international treaty called the Basel Convention. The treaty covers hazardous waste shipped to other countries. The United States, however, have not ratified the treaty, so they’re not covered by the rules from a legal standpoint.

The shipping of waste has been a constant problem for Southeast Asia for a long time. However, e-waste carries more risk because of the harmful chemicals involved. The waste itself, for example, carries cadmium, lead, or mercury; all of which are harmful for humans. Further, the recycling process can involve harmful working conditions without appropriate protective gear. Some just burn the waste, leading to toxic fumes.

According to the report, Asia already produces almost half of the world’s e-waste. With America — a huge contributor of e-waste by itself — dumping e-waste all over Southeast Asia, the region is turning into a dumping ground for toxic garbage.

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