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Huawei Launches New Software Brand for Intelligent Driving

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
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Huawei Launches New Software Brand for Intelligent Driving

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Chinese tech company Huawei unveiled on Wednesday a new software brand for intelligent driving, marking its latest push to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry.
The new brand Qiankun, symbolizing a combination of heaven and the Kunlun Mountains, plans to provide self-driving systems involving the driving chassis, audio and driver's seat, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit, said during an event ahead of the Beijing auto show.
"2024 will be the first year for mass commercialization of smart driving and the cumulative number of cars on road equipped with the Huawei self-driving system will top 500,000 by the year-end," Reuters quoted Jin as saying.
He also expected within a year more than 10 car models adopting Huawei’s Qiankun system would hit the market.
The Shenzhen-based tech conglomerate launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent EV era and supply software and components to partners.
Huawei said in November that the unit would be spun off into a new company which would receive the unit's core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan Auto.
It has also unveiled seven EV models in partnership with Chinese automakers so far and they are selling well, Jin said.
They include three Aito brand models under partnership with Seres, the Luxeed S7 sedan co-developed with Chery , two models with Changan Auto-backed Avatr and one with Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC)-owned Arcfox.
On Tuesday, Huawei also unveiled the S9 sedan, the first model under the premium Stelato brand it launched with BAIC.
Its diversification into EVs comes amid an intensifying price war in the world's largest auto market, which is grappling with slowing sales momentum and deepening overcapacity concerns as more than 40 brands vie for consumer attention.
Earlier this month, Huawei-backed Aito offered discounts of up to 20,000 yuan ($2,760) on its new M7 SUVs until the end of April.

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Meta’s Content Moderation Contractor to Cut 2,000 Jobs in Barcelona

The logo of Meta is seen at the entrance of the company's temporary stand ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 18, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of Meta is seen at the entrance of the company's temporary stand ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Meta’s Content Moderation Contractor to Cut 2,000 Jobs in Barcelona

The logo of Meta is seen at the entrance of the company's temporary stand ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 18, 2025. (Reuters)
The logo of Meta is seen at the entrance of the company's temporary stand ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Canadian-based tech company Telus sent home as many as 2,000 people from its content moderation center in Barcelona after Facebook owner Meta Platforms severed its contract, local unions CCOO and UGT said.

The company - operating locally as CCC Barcelona Digital Services - emailed its workers on Thursday placing them on gardening leave saying a client warned on April 1 it would suspended services.

The email, which Reuters had access to, did not specify who the client was, but UGT and CCOO said Telus' client was Meta.

One former and one current employee, who requested anonymity as they signed non-disclosure agreements, said the team was moderating content for Meta.

"Our clients are diversifying their presence and transferring their services to other locations," Telus said, adding the contract continued. The company will provide support to all the affected team members during negotiations with the unions.

A Meta spokesperson said the company has moved the services that were being performed from Barcelona to other locations and the company is not reducing its content review efforts.

Meta invested billions and hired thousands of content moderators globally over the years to police sensitive content, but in January it scrapped its US fact-checking program, following the election of President Donald Trump.

It also said it will stop proactively scanning for hate speech and other types of rule-breaking, reviewing such posts only in response to user reports.

Employees were placed on leave, with full salaries but no work to carry out, while Telus negotiates severance with unions, the email sent to workers said.

The company suspended its operations at noon on Thursday and asked employees at work to leave the office, located in Barcelona's landmark Glories tower downtown.

The team in Barcelona included content moderation services in Catalan, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Portuguese and Spanish, according to the former employee.

Other content moderation centers in countries such as Bulgaria, Colombia and Portugal that used to collaborate with the staff in Barcelona, the current employee said, although a Telus spokesperson said some of these centers are run by other companies.