Hays Travel introduces customer app as part of ‘tech transformation’

Travel

A bespoke Hay Travels app has been developed to complement the service provided by agents in branches.The technology enables clients to keep and view their travel documents in one place, settle balances with fast and secure payments, add holiday extras such as airport parking and car rental.The UK’s largest independent agency group appointed travel technology specialist digitaltravel.io to build the app, following a competitive procurement process.Hays Travel staff in retail branches and at its Sunderland head office put the new app through its paces during a trial phase, giving the development team feedback on their experiences.A customer trial phase then involved the app being introduced across Hays Tavel’s retail divisions, with staff in branches encouraging customers to download and use the app and give feedback.Owner and chair Dame Irene Hays said: “We are delighted to reach the launch stage of this important output in our tech transformation programme. “Whether they are researching their next holiday or managing their booking, our app’s interactive features that will further improve our customers’ experience and complement the service our agents provide in branches.“We were impressed by the digitaltravel.io team who understood our objectives and demonstrated that they have the experience and capability required to build us a bespoke Hays Travel app.”She added: “This is just the beginning, working with digitaltravel.io and our tech partner Nordstar, we have a roadmap in place for further developments and additional functionality that will improve customers’ experience and journey.”Peter Whittle, digitaltravel.io chief executive, added: “This is a landmark project for digitaltravel.io. The bespoke app we have developed for Hays Travel will offer customers an even better experience and further grow Hays’ brand loyalty and reputation. “From travel planning and trip booking to staying connected on the go, this all-in-one app focuses on customer engagement and post booking services to make holiday planning simple.“It was a pleasure working with the Hays team who were open to our ideas and challenged us to deliver a first-class bit of tech – we are all very happy with the results.”

Hays Travel introduces customer app as part of ‘tech transformation’

Travel

A bespoke Hay Travels app has been developed to complement the service provided by agents in branches.The technology enables clients to keep and view their travel documents in one place, settle balances with fast and secure payments, add holiday extras such as airport parking and car rental.The UK’s largest independent agency group appointed travel technology specialist digitaltravel.io to build the app, following a competitive procurement process.Hays Travel staff in retail branches and at its Sunderland head office put the new app through its paces during a trial phase, giving the development team feedback on their experiences.A customer trial phase then involved the app being introduced across Hays Tavel’s retail divisions, with staff in branches encouraging customers to download and use the app and give feedback.Owner and chair Dame Irene Hays said: “We are delighted to reach the launch stage of this important output in our tech transformation programme. “Whether they are researching their next holiday or managing their booking, our app’s interactive features that will further improve our customers’ experience and complement the service our agents provide in branches.“We were impressed by the digitaltravel.io team who understood our objectives and demonstrated that they have the experience and capability required to build us a bespoke Hays Travel app.”She added: “This is just the beginning, working with digitaltravel.io and our tech partner Nordstar, we have a roadmap in place for further developments and additional functionality that will improve customers’ experience and journey.”Peter Whittle, digitaltravel.io chief executive, added: “This is a landmark project for digitaltravel.io. The bespoke app we have developed for Hays Travel will offer customers an even better experience and further grow Hays’ brand loyalty and reputation. “From travel planning and trip booking to staying connected on the go, this all-in-one app focuses on customer engagement and post booking services to make holiday planning simple.“It was a pleasure working with the Hays team who were open to our ideas and challenged us to deliver a first-class bit of tech – we are all very happy with the results.”

Google travel director tips ‘peak unlike any other’ amid new trends

Travel

The forthcoming peaks selling season in travel will be “unlike any other” thanks to the “amazing” reach of YouTube and the ability of AI to help advertisers reach the right consumers.That’s the view of Anna Sawbridge, director of travel at Google in the UK, who works with travel agencies, tour operators, hoteliers and aggregators across the travel industry.She said the world of entertainment has “really shifted”, with billions of viewers and high-quality content on YouTube – which is owned by Google – plus new ad formats that use AI to help travel advertisers reach their goals.“What’s really interesting this year is this collision between this new form of entertainment, how YouTube has developed as a platform, and the ability that provides advertisers to engage and reach audiences that are highly engaged…as well as the opportunities that AI provides in reaching those audiences in a really efficient way that is directly aimed at driving business results,” she said.“There is real excitement in this opportunity to pull together both the changing entertainment landscape and the opportunity to leverage AI.“This will be a peak unlike any other because you’ve got some very different trends in the marketplace to take advantage of.”More: AI revolution in travel ‘well underway’, says Google industry managerTravel firms told AI can help ‘maximise profits’Sawbridge said YouTube has “democratised” content production, giving rise to a new generation of “talented and diverse” creators who are building content that is aligned to individual users’ passions.Globally, YouTube has about two billion logged-in viewers each month, while viewers on the connected TV platform watch about a billion hours of content every day.“It is an amazing platform in terms of its reach and engagement from the audience, which is being driven by the tremendous amount of high-quality content,” she said.She cited examples of creators such as Brandon B, with 14.5 million subscribers, and channels such as Hot Ones, which has been nominated for an Emmy.Sidemen, the biggest content producing group in the UK, has 21.7 million subscribers, and the first episode of its recent series, Inside, eclipsed the viewership of TV show Love Island, she added.“We have developed these incredible new ad formats that leverage AI to drive the goals that travel advertisers have,” she added.“The system will find the right user at the right time with the right message and deliver on the business goal that you set.“You can target a specific audience category to find a niche group or you can target a specific passion.”Furthermore, the content is available in both short and long forms.“The YouTube platform enables you to reach users when they’re viewing long-form content and sitting back, with a TV screen…and a more snackable, on-the-go environment where they might be commuting and they’re flicking through videos on their phone,” she explained.“You can tie the two together, because it’s all happening in the same platform. You can also tie up with what’s happening then in search.”She said Etihad Airways has used YouTube along with AI to create adverts and deliver them in a “hyper-personalised” way to individuals. The airline’s YouTube campaign for Black Friday last year generated a 56% increase in bookings, almost two million website visits and the highest revenue-generating day from paid search.Sawbridge also pointed to wider search trends that bode well for the travel industry.“In about 2004, searches for ‘cheap’ far outweighed searches for ‘best’. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen that completely reverse,” she said.“Now users are searching for ‘best’ far more than ‘cheap’. That’s really interesting for the travel industry, and a lot of hope, because people want what is right for them.“Being able to communicate your brand online and talk about the features of the brand that make it unique will satisfy what users are looking for.”She also pointed to an “elongation” of the holiday search process, noting: “Users are starting their searches earlier and they can also be waiting to book until later.“From an advertising perspective, it’s really important to not just think about that peak period. That peak period obviously remains vitally important but there is an opportunity ahead of peaks to start building that brand saliency.”Sawbridge, who has worked with Google for more than 12 years, took up her role as director of travel a year ago.

Google travel director tips ‘peak unlike any other’ amid new trends

Travel

The forthcoming peaks selling season in travel will be “unlike any other” thanks to the “amazing” reach of YouTube and the ability of AI to help advertisers reach the right consumers.That’s the view of Anna Sawbridge, director of travel at Google in the UK, who works with travel agencies, tour operators, hoteliers and aggregators across the travel industry.She said the world of entertainment has “really shifted”, with billions of viewers and high-quality content on YouTube – which is owned by Google – plus new ad formats that use AI to help travel advertisers reach their goals.“What’s really interesting this year is this collision between this new form of entertainment, how YouTube has developed as a platform, and the ability that provides advertisers to engage and reach audiences that are highly engaged…as well as the opportunities that AI provides in reaching those audiences in a really efficient way that is directly aimed at driving business results,” she said.“There is real excitement in this opportunity to pull together both the changing entertainment landscape and the opportunity to leverage AI.“This will be a peak unlike any other because you’ve got some very different trends in the marketplace to take advantage of.”More: AI revolution in travel ‘well underway’, says Google industry managerTravel firms told AI can help ‘maximise profits’Sawbridge said YouTube has “democratised” content production, giving rise to a new generation of “talented and diverse” creators who are building content that is aligned to individual users’ passions.Globally, YouTube has about two billion logged-in viewers each month, while viewers on the connected TV platform watch about a billion hours of content every day.“It is an amazing platform in terms of its reach and engagement from the audience, which is being driven by the tremendous amount of high-quality content,” she said.She cited examples of creators such as Brandon B, with 14.5 million subscribers, and channels such as Hot Ones, which has been nominated for an Emmy.Sidemen, the biggest content producing group in the UK, has 21.7 million subscribers, and the first episode of its recent series, Inside, eclipsed the viewership of TV show Love Island, she added.“We have developed these incredible new ad formats that leverage AI to drive the goals that travel advertisers have,” she added.“The system will find the right user at the right time with the right message and deliver on the business goal that you set.“You can target a specific audience category to find a niche group or you can target a specific passion.”Furthermore, the content is available in both short and long forms.“The YouTube platform enables you to reach users when they’re viewing long-form content and sitting back, with a TV screen…and a more snackable, on-the-go environment where they might be commuting and they’re flicking through videos on their phone,” she explained.“You can tie the two together, because it’s all happening in the same platform. You can also tie up with what’s happening then in search.”She said Etihad Airways has used YouTube along with AI to create adverts and deliver them in a “hyper-personalised” way to individuals. The airline’s YouTube campaign for Black Friday last year generated a 56% increase in bookings, almost two million website visits and the highest revenue-generating day from paid search.Sawbridge also pointed to wider search trends that bode well for the travel industry.“In about 2004, searches for ‘cheap’ far outweighed searches for ‘best’. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen that completely reverse,” she said.“Now users are searching for ‘best’ far more than ‘cheap’. That’s really interesting for the travel industry, and a lot of hope, because people want what is right for them.“Being able to communicate your brand online and talk about the features of the brand that make it unique will satisfy what users are looking for.”She also pointed to an “elongation” of the holiday search process, noting: “Users are starting their searches earlier and they can also be waiting to book until later.“From an advertising perspective, it’s really important to not just think about that peak period. That peak period obviously remains vitally important but there is an opportunity ahead of peaks to start building that brand saliency.”Sawbridge, who has worked with Google for more than 12 years, took up her role as director of travel a year ago.

More than a million UK and Irish travellers cruised in first half of 2024, says Clia

Travel

The number of UK and Ireland travellers taking a cruise in the first half of 2024 surpassed one million, according to exclusive Clia figures.Travel Weekly has learned this was the first time these half-year figures went over the milestone figure, reaching 1.05 million and marking a 10% increase on the same time in 2023.For the full-year 2023, the UK achieved 2.3 million passengers an increase of 37% on 2022, or 14.5% on the last full-year comparison before the pandemic in 2019.Speaking separately on stage at the Advantage Latitude conference on board Ambassador Cruise Line ship Ambience last week, Clia senior events and trade manager Adele Fitzpatrick-Foster said UK passenger figures for the first quarter of 2024 were up 21% year on year.“Cruise is a very hot topic at the minute,” she noted, as she explained the average percentage increase in passengers year-on-year is typically around 3.5% to 5% due to “managed growth” as new ships are produced throughout the year.By the end of 2024, there will be 350 ships sailing oceans globally in “a fleet of thirds”, she added. About one third are big ships with over 3,000 passengers, one third are “mid-sized” with 1,000 to 3,000 capacity, and the last third take fewer than 1,000 passengers.There are 41 ships on order until 2028, including five expedition ships which Fitzpatrick-Foster said provided agents “140,000 opportunities to sell more cruise”.She also highlighted the average age of a UK cruise passenger was down to 55 years as some cruise lines were attracting a slightly younger adult audience.There was also a trend of more multigeneration passengers coming on board as 57% of people travel in a group of three or more, 28% travel with three or more generations and 10% travel with five or more generations.“That gets rid of that myth that everybody thinks that cruising is just for couples,” she stressed.Fitzpatrick-Foster added that agents should look at the pre- and post-opportunities for cruises as 65% of passengers stay in a resort before departure and 52% stay on afterwards.“If you’re not booking anybody those pre- and post-stays, you’re really missing out because somebody else is doing that for your customers,” she said.Fitzpatrick-Foster mentioned shore excursions as another way for the trade to customise cruises for customers, with 61% of Brits doing these activities during their voyages.

Fully Digital Travel Experience Closer To Reality

Travel

Bangkok – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its partners have successfully demonstrated that the industry is ready to deliver a fully digital air travel experience. This was achieved in a proof-of-concept (PoC) involving two passengers using different digital wallets and travel credentials on a round-trip between Hong Kong and Tokyo.IATA partnered with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport, Narita International Airport, Branchspace, Facephi, NEC, Neoke, Northern Block and SICPA for the travel which took place on 21 and 22 October. The airport elements of this PoC were conducted in a live environment, building on an initial PoC carried out in a test environment in 2023.In the PoC, two travelers used digital wallets containing their digital passport, company ID, and frequent flyer credentials to obtain personalized offers, book a flight, obtain a visa, check their travel documentation, check-in and receive boarding passes. The travelers used biometric identification to manage airport processes in a live environment without repeatedly showing their travel documents. The successful journey integrated seven verifiable credentials (ePassport copy, live biometric image, visa copy, company ID, frequent flyer membership, order, and boarding pass), two digital wallets and a trust registry to verify issuers.“A seamless fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has moved from theory to proven reality. The challenge now is to make this more efficient travel experience available to all travelers. There is good reason for optimism. With One ID standards already in place and the expansion of Modern Airline Retailing to support digital identity with the highest levels of data privacy and protection, the industry could be ready for this in the very near future. Government efforts to adopt digital travel credentials based on ICAO standards are picking up pace. Europe is already planning to issue Digital Identity Wallets to citizens and residents by 2027,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety, and Security.DetailsThis successful pilot is a key step towards a seamless digital travel experience, allowing airlines to offer more personalized, secure, and efficient journeys for passengers using digital identity, while ensuring traditional manual processing remains available for those who prefer it or in case backup systems are needed.The PoC demonstrated that IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing vision and IATA’s One ID Standards can seamlessly improve the customer experience, from shopping to travel, in harmonization with existing airline/airport processes. With a traveler’s identity document securely stored in a digital wallet, the traveler can consent to share their biometrics to pass through various airport checkpoints—such as bag drop, security, immigration, and boarding—without needing to show physical documents. In doing so, several other key elements of digital travel experience were validated:Industry standards to support a digital travel experience are fit for purpose:Verifiable Credentials (VCs) for live biometric VCs and boarding pass VCs, developed this year, were successfully tested. In addition, a Visa VC was successfully used to demonstrate paperless document verification.The draft Technical Guidance for Digitalization of Admissibility was used as a baseline to successfully define requirements for interoperability.Critical interoperability: Successfully using multiple VC issuers, verifiers, and wallets by two travelers on the round-trip journey validated the flexibility of the required technology across travel stages and jurisdictions. The VCs integrated smoothly with existing biometric systems at both Hong Kong and Tokyo’s Narita airports.Trusted Issuer Registry was successfully tested: This system verifies that a credential was issued by a trusted entity. To enable widespread adoption, an open ecosystem with credential issuers from both the public and private sectors is desired, making such verification critical.IATA Data and Technology Hub The HKG-NRT PoC was developed in the IATA Data and Technology Hub. The Hub brings together industry partners from across the travel value chain to develop solutions and test new technologies to overcome industry challenges. The aim is to help the aviation industry generate value as it transitions towards digitalization. Source & references /Public Release. View in full here.

Fully Digital Travel Experience Closer To Reality

Travel

Bangkok – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its partners have successfully demonstrated that the industry is ready to deliver a fully digital air travel experience. This was achieved in a proof-of-concept (PoC) involving two passengers using different digital wallets and travel credentials on a round-trip between Hong Kong and Tokyo.IATA partnered with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport, Narita International Airport, Branchspace, Facephi, NEC, Neoke, Northern Block and SICPA for the travel which took place on 21 and 22 October. The airport elements of this PoC were conducted in a live environment, building on an initial PoC carried out in a test environment in 2023.In the PoC, two travelers used digital wallets containing their digital passport, company ID, and frequent flyer credentials to obtain personalized offers, book a flight, obtain a visa, check their travel documentation, check-in and receive boarding passes. The travelers used biometric identification to manage airport processes in a live environment without repeatedly showing their travel documents. The successful journey integrated seven verifiable credentials (ePassport copy, live biometric image, visa copy, company ID, frequent flyer membership, order, and boarding pass), two digital wallets and a trust registry to verify issuers.“A seamless fully digital travel experience powered by digital identity and biometrics has moved from theory to proven reality. The challenge now is to make this more efficient travel experience available to all travelers. There is good reason for optimism. With One ID standards already in place and the expansion of Modern Airline Retailing to support digital identity with the highest levels of data privacy and protection, the industry could be ready for this in the very near future. Government efforts to adopt digital travel credentials based on ICAO standards are picking up pace. Europe is already planning to issue Digital Identity Wallets to citizens and residents by 2027,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety, and Security.DetailsThis successful pilot is a key step towards a seamless digital travel experience, allowing airlines to offer more personalized, secure, and efficient journeys for passengers using digital identity, while ensuring traditional manual processing remains available for those who prefer it or in case backup systems are needed.The PoC demonstrated that IATA’s Modern Airline Retailing vision and IATA’s One ID Standards can seamlessly improve the customer experience, from shopping to travel, in harmonization with existing airline/airport processes. With a traveler’s identity document securely stored in a digital wallet, the traveler can consent to share their biometrics to pass through various airport checkpoints—such as bag drop, security, immigration, and boarding—without needing to show physical documents. In doing so, several other key elements of digital travel experience were validated:Industry standards to support a digital travel experience are fit for purpose:Verifiable Credentials (VCs) for live biometric VCs and boarding pass VCs, developed this year, were successfully tested. In addition, a Visa VC was successfully used to demonstrate paperless document verification.The draft Technical Guidance for Digitalization of Admissibility was used as a baseline to successfully define requirements for interoperability.Critical interoperability: Successfully using multiple VC issuers, verifiers, and wallets by two travelers on the round-trip journey validated the flexibility of the required technology across travel stages and jurisdictions. The VCs integrated smoothly with existing biometric systems at both Hong Kong and Tokyo’s Narita airports.Trusted Issuer Registry was successfully tested: This system verifies that a credential was issued by a trusted entity. To enable widespread adoption, an open ecosystem with credential issuers from both the public and private sectors is desired, making such verification critical.IATA Data and Technology Hub The HKG-NRT PoC was developed in the IATA Data and Technology Hub. The Hub brings together industry partners from across the travel value chain to develop solutions and test new technologies to overcome industry challenges. The aim is to help the aviation industry generate value as it transitions towards digitalization. Source & references /Public Release. View in full here.

Sharjah Chamber hosts business forum to enhance economic cooperation

Business News

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), in collaboration with the Czech-Italian Chamber of Commerce (CICC), held an extensive business meeting that brought together senior representatives from prominent companies and business leaders from Sharjah and various countries worldwide.The meeting reflects the Sharjah Chamber’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with business communities and private sector entities across the globe, reinforcing the robust relations and strategic partnerships that the UAE shares with major global economies.Held at SCCI’s headquarters, the meeting was attended by Fatema Khalifa Al Muqarrab, Director of SCCI’s International Relations Department, and Antonio Rotondo, Chairman of CICC. Also present were several officials and representatives of Sharjah’s government institutions and more than 20 companies specializing in key strategic sectors from the emirate and other countries worldwide, including BEEAH Group.The event featured one-on-one business meetings, focusing on exploring partnerships, enhancing cooperation, and discussing available investment opportunities.In a speech delivered at the forum, Fatima Khalifa Al Mokarrab extended a warm welcome to all attendees, reaffirming Sharjah Chamber’s commitment to advancing collaboration and partnerships with major global companies alongside investors and businessmen from around the world.She underscored SCCI’s role in expanding economic connections between Sharjah’s business community and its counterparts in the world by organising business forums and networking events, which not only serve as vital platforms for unlocking investment opportunities but also facilitate promising partnerships with businesses and private sectors from around the world.She said that signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Sharjah Chamber and the Czech-Italian Chamber of Commerce was a crucial step that led to this forum. The goal of the agreement is to build closer business ties, facilitate trade delegation exchanges, and showcase investment opportunities to major global businesses.Highlighting Sharjah’s leading position on the global investment map, Fatima Al Mokarrab noted that Sharjah is ranked as the fifth fastest-growing city in the world for foreign direct investment, with investments reaching $2.75 billion. She attributed this success to the emirate’s strategic location, advanced infrastructure, and the government’s economic diversification policies.Al Mokarrab added that the forum provides a valuable opportunity for business leaders and investors worldwide to explore Sharjah’s promising investment prospects across key sectors. This is complemented by the range of services and facilitation offered by the Sharjah Chamber for those seeking to invest in the emirate.For his part, Antonio Rotondo commended the Sharjah Chamber for organising the forum, which he described as a true embodiment of the constructive and growing collaboration between SCCI and the Czech-Italian Chamber of Commerce. He noted that the event aims to strengthen trade relations and foster economic cooperation among business communities in both countries and beyond.The meeting featured a presentation on Sharjah’s attractive investment environment, showcasing its diversified economy and the numerous opportunities and advantages it offers to businesses and investors across key strategic sectors. A short film was also displayed highlighting Sharjah’s free zones, advanced facilities and infrastructure, and the various incentives and benefits available to investors, in addition to its rich tourism assets and attractions and several major ongoing and future projects.During the meeting, Eng. Mohammed Bani Hamad, Business Development Manager at BEEAH Group, delivered an in-depth presentation outlining the company’s key projects and extensive experience and leadership in the field of sustainability across the region. He highlighted BEEAH Group’s sustainability initiatives and achievements in sectors crucial to sustainable development, such as renewable energy, environmental technology, and consultancy services.The forum also featured detailed presentations by representatives of Sharjah-based and international companies, introducing their offerings, products, and services.

Ex-Baidu AI Scientist Becomes A Billionaire After Shares Of His Self-Driving Tech Startup Jumps 16%

Science and Health

Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinYu Kai, an AI scientist who started an autonomous driving project at Baidu, has joined the billionaire ranks after shares of his startup, Horizon Robotics, jumped almost 16% to a record high on Wednesday.

Yu, chairman and CEO of Horizon Robotics, is the company’s largest shareholder with a 13% stake through his family trust and a wholly-owned investment vehicle. Based on his stake, Forbes estimates his net worth to be just over $1 billion.

The 47-year-old entered the three-comma club less than a week after Beijing-based Horizon Robotics went public in Hong Kong. Last Thursday, the company debuted on the Hong Kong bourse after raising HK$5.4 billion ($695 million) in the city’s largest initial public offering so far this year.

Yu cofounded Horizon Robotics in 2015 with ex-Baidu chief R&D architect Huang Chang and associate director Tao Feiwen. The company develops both the software and hardware for assisted and autonomous driving systems. Its most advanced system is called Horizon SuperDrive, which as per the company is designed to achieve human-like autonomous driving in urban, highway and parking scenarios. Launched in April, the system “theoretically supports” Level 4 automation, one level below full automation and is capable of making decisions in specific conditions without human input, according to its prospectus.

Horizon Robotics’ other systems offer features such as automatic emergency braking and parking assist. The company also licenses its proprietary algorithm and software to its clients so that they can develop their own customized products. The customer roster consists of 27 carmakers, including Volkswagen, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, and China’s BYD, Geely, Li Auto and NIO, according to its prospectus.
Yu Kai, chairman and CEO of Horizon Robotics, attends the company’s listing ceremony at Hong Kong’s stock exchange on October 24, 2024.Shanshan Kao/Forbes Asia
Before it went public, Horizon Robotics attracted a slew of big-name investors. Those include investment firms like Zhang Lei’s Hillhouse Investment Management, Neil Shen’s HongShan (formerly Sequoia China) and Jean Salata’s EQT Private Capital Asia. It is also backed by strategic investors including Robin Zeng’s electric vehicle battery maker CATL, Wang Chuanfu’s Chinese EV carmaker BYD, as well as German auto giant Volkswagen, which in 2023 spent more than $2 billion and took a 60% in a joint venture with Horizon Robotics to develop self-driving technologies for Volkswagen’s vehicles sold in China.
Yu had already made a name for himself in academia for his works in machine learning before he turned entrepreneur. The son of an automotive engineer, he grew up in the Chinese transportation hub of Nanchang and studied electronics engineering before moving to Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in computer science at the University of Munich. He later became head of media analytics at NEC Laboratories America, developing technologies on computer vision and machine learning.
Yu returned to China in 2012 and joined Baidu, where he established the Institute of Deep Learning, focusing on AI technologies. During his three-year tenure at Baidu, Yu was named the deputy head of Baidu Research. There, he initiated an autonomous driving project, setting the groundwork for the Chinese tech giant’s Apollo Go robotaxi business.
When Yu ventured out on his own in 2015, he experienced a bumpy ride at first. Yu disclosed to Chinese tech media GeekPark in a 2023 interview that, while he aspired to develop AI chips that could act as brains for everything from cars to home appliances so that they could have human-like capabilities, he had trouble pinning down the killer applications. Success eluded him until 2019, when Horizon Robotics launched its first assisted driving system equipped with its proprietary chip. That turned out to be good timing, as a year later China outlined a blueprint to achieve mass production of high-level autonomous cars by 2025.
Horizon Robotics is among the autonomous driving tech companies that went public. Chinese robotaxi startup WeRide last Friday debuted on the Nasdaq after raising $440.5 million in its IPO and private placement. Meanwhile, Black Sesame, a Chinese startup that designs chips for self-driving systems, started trading in Hong Kong in August after raising about $130 million.
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1st image of our Milky Way’s black hole may be inaccurate, scientists say

Science and Health

What does the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy look like?It’s a deceptively simple question. Although our local cosmic abyss, named Sgr A* (short for Sagittarius A*), resides just 26,000 light-years from Earth, it has proven to be a very difficult object to image. This is thanks in part to material whipping around it at near light-speeds. However, after years of trying, scientists with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project succeeded in 2022.The black hole’s silhouette emerged from the shadows, appearing like a fuzzy orange doughnut.Yet now, an independent analysis of the EHT data suggests part of the image’s doughnut-like appearance may be an artifact due to the way it was put together. This discovery owes itself to  a trio of scientists at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).The ring-like structure, which really represents intense radio waves blasted from the brilliant disk of gas, known as the “accretion disk,” that’s swirling around the black hole, may in fact be more elongated than appears, the researchers argue.

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Related: New view of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way hints at an exciting hidden feature (image)”No telescope can capture an astronomical image perfectly,” Makoto Miyoshi of NAOJ, who led the latest analysis of EHT data, said in a recent statement. “We hypothesize that the ring image resulted from errors during EHT’s imaging analysis and that part of it was an artifact, rather than the actual astronomical structure.”The EHT consortium has so far made no official statements about the topic.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!More than 400 researchers from 13 institutions, including the NAOJ, constitute the EHT’s international consortium, which operates a growing network of telescopes around the world to form one virtual, Earth-sized telescope using a technique called Very Long Baseline interferometry. Two EHT scientists note in a 2022 interview that gaps in data were expected due to EHT operating just eight telescopes in six locations around the world. Katie Bouman, an assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology, likened the limited information being gathered to “listening to a song from a piano where many of the keys are missing.”The EHT project made history in 2019 when it unveiled the first-ever image of a black hole, marking a technological breakthrough that brought to light the silhouette of the elusive cosmic beast residing at the heart of the M87 galaxy.The project was simultaneously scrutinizing Sgr A*, which proved tough to image because it is 1,600 times lighter than the M87 behemoth, which means material that takes weeks to travel around M87* zipped around Sgr A* within minutes. “Sgr A* is like a toddler who can’t stay standing still while we are taking its photo over the course of a night,” Bouman said in the 2022 news release, which sought to outline scientists’ effort to image the two black holes.The task was made tougher by thick clouds of dust and gas hovering between Earth and the Galactic Center that distorted and blurred radio signals coming from Sgr A*, she added. So, the EHT collaboration used special computer algorithms that could fill in gaps in data caused by the widely separated telescopes. From there, the team reconstructed the image prior to the chaos caused by the turbulent gas.”Each algorithm has its own method for determining which image is most likely,” said Bouman. “It is a bit like hiring Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple and Jules Maigret simultaneously to see what they commonly conclude and what they don’t.”Based on thousands of images that captured how the black hole’s appearance changed across multiple observing nights, the vast majority of the computer simulations depicted a bright ring of light as big as the orbit of Mercury, in agreement with predictions from Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.In the new study, Miyoshi and colleagues specifically argue this ring-like structure is an artifact caused by the bumpy point-spread function (PSF), which refers to the way an imaging system measures the amount of blurring caused by gaps in data.The researchers applied what they termed “widely-used traditional” analysis methods to the EHT data that are different from the EHT’s own original analysis method. The results showed the accretion disk to be slightly elongated in the east-west direction, the team wrote in their paper. published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.(Image credit: Miyoshi et al.)Related Stories: The new image also shows the disk’s eastern half to be brighter than the western half, which the researchers interpret as a Doppler boost, meaning the east side is moving toward us. “We think this appearance means the accretion disk surrounding the black hole is rotating at about 60% of the speed of light,” said Miyoshi. For now, either view of the disk’s real shape could be correct. Astronomers say forthcoming technological upgrades to telescopes will allow them to gather more detailed images and better constrain the area around Sgr A* and other black holes.The paper about these results was published this year in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.