Morning Brief
- ChatGPT to introduce ads
- National rollout of the medical insurance drug price comparison mini program
- New regulations ban the sale of 13 categories of food in livestreams
- Setapp abandons plans to open a third-party iOS app store in Europe
- NVIDIA blog typo misstates a unit, correction triggers copper price fluctuations
- Huawei smartphone shipments return to No.1 in China for the first time in five years in 2025
- Rumors You Can Just Glance At
ChatGPT to introduce ads
On January 16, OpenAI announced plans to begin testing ads in ChatGPT over the coming weeks. The initial rollout will target users in the United States, before gradually expanding to other regions worldwide. Ads will primarily appear in the free version and the low-cost “Go” plan priced at USD 8 per month (which has been tested in India for several months and will be rolled out to more markets). Users on Plus, Pro, and Enterprise tiers will not see ads for now.
OpenAI stated that ads will not interfere with or alter the content of ChatGPT’s generated answers. They will appear as clearly labeled standalone boxes placed below the chatbot’s replies. For example, when a user asks for travel advice for New York, ChatGPT will first provide a standard itinerary, and may then display ads for local hotels underneath. The head of OpenAI’s app division also said the company will explore more interactive ad formats in the future, such as allowing users to ask questions directly about the advertised content to assist with purchase decisions.
Regarding privacy concerns, OpenAI emphasized that it will not sell user data to advertisers, nor will it disclose specific conversation content. Advertisers will only receive aggregated performance metrics such as impressions and clicks. While the system will match ads based on conversation topics and some personalization data, users can disable data usage for ad targeting at any time in the settings. In addition, OpenAI has implemented strict restrictions: ads will not be shown in conversations involving sensitive topics such as health or politics, nor in chats with underage users.
OpenAI is under significant pressure to commercialize. Although ChatGPT now has more than 800 million weekly active users, the vast majority are free users who generate no direct revenue. As a company founded a decade ago with roughly USD 64 billion raised in total funding, OpenAI urgently needs to develop new revenue streams beyond subscriptions to support the high costs of model training and operations, and to meet increasingly fierce competition from rivals such as Google Gemini.
National rollout of the medical insurance drug price comparison mini program
On January 16, China’s National Healthcare Security Administration announced that the “Designated Pharmacy Medical Insurance Drug Price Comparison” mini program has been rolled out nationwide. The program integrates real-time data from designated retail pharmacies covered by medical insurance across the country, providing regularly updated information on drug prices, stock availability, and manufacturers.
According to the announcement, insured users can access the feature by searching for their local medical insurance service platform on WeChat or Alipay, or by using the official National Medical Insurance Service Platform app and locating the price comparison module. After entering a drug name, the system displays the price range at designated pharmacies in the user’s area along with detailed stock information, and supports sorting and filtering by options such as lowest price first or nearest distance. Once a pharmacy is selected, users can navigate to it directly using the built-in map function or place a call with one tap for inquiries, helping reduce unnecessary trips and avoid extra expenses.
Building on the full rollout of the basic price comparison feature, local medical insurance authorities are continuously expanding service scenarios and functionality based on user feedback. For example, to address typing difficulties among elderly users, mini programs in several provinces have added a “photo-based drug recognition” feature, allowing users to simply take a picture of a medicine box to automatically identify the drug and retrieve price comparison information. Some regions have also integrated online purchasing and home delivery services, providing added convenience for residents with limited mobility or urgent needs.
In addition, certain areas are further exploring features such as medical consumables price inquiries, prescription-based drug matching and search, and analysis of drug price fluctuation trends. These regions also display index ratings for pharmacies based on “volume–price comparisons” of insured drugs, helping the public make more informed purchasing decisions.
New regulations ban the sale of 13 categories of food in livestreams
According to Xinhua News Agency, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation recently issued the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Livestream E-commerce Operators in Fulfilling Their Primary Responsibility for Food Safety, which will take effect on March 20, 2026. The regulations clearly specify 13 categories of food that are prohibited from being sold via livestreaming, including: food produced using non-food raw materials or containing toxic or harmful substances; food with pathogenic microorganisms or heavy metals exceeding safety limits; expired, spoiled, deteriorated, moldy, or insect-infested food; meat and aquatic products from livestock or poultry that died of disease or poisoning, or that failed quarantine inspection, as well as their processed products; prepackaged food without labels; and food whose production or sale is explicitly prohibited by the state, among others.
The regulations bring livestream e-commerce platform operators, livestream channel operators, livestream marketers, and livestream marketer service agencies all under regulatory oversight. All of these parties are required to fulfill their respective primary responsibilities for food safety in accordance with the rules. Food producers and distributors that operate livestream channels must disclose their licensing information and verify supplier qualifications, while non-food producers and distributors are required to establish strict product selection systems. Livestream marketers must strengthen screening and vetting of products. Platforms, for their part, must set up systems for review and registration, training, and risk control, appoint food safety management personnel, formulate food safety risk control lists, and establish working mechanisms for “intelligent monitoring, investigation and scheduling, and rapid response.”
To strengthen regulatory enforcement and improve consumer protection, the regulations require market supervision authorities to include food sold via livestreaming in routine inspections and annual sampling and testing plans, and clarify that technical monitoring records may be used as electronic evidence. Platforms are also required to provide convenient channels for complaints and reports and to handle consumer requests in a timely manner.
Setapp abandons plans to open a third-party iOS app store in Europe
Ukrainian software developer MacPaw recently announced that it will officially shut down its third-party iOS app store for users in the European Union, Setapp Mobile, on February 16. On its official support page, MacPaw explained that the decision was made because the app marketplace’s “constantly evolving and complex commercial terms” no longer align with the company’s current business model, hinting at difficulties in achieving profitability.
Setapp Mobile launched a public beta in the EU in September 2024, offering iOS app distribution through a subscription model. After the service is officially discontinued, all apps obtained through the platform will be removed. The company advises users to back up important data before the deadline to avoid losing access once the service ends. The Mac version of Setapp, which is also subscription-based, will continue to operate normally and will not be affected by this adjustment to the mobile business.
Setapp Mobile came into existence thanks to the enforcement of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires Apple to allow third-party app sideloading in the region. However, this emerging distribution channel faces serious challenges. In particular, Apple’s introduction of the “Core Technology Fee” rule requires apps that exceed a certain installation threshold to pay Apple a fee for each first annual installation, significantly increasing operating costs for third-party app stores and their developers.
At present, there are still five other third-party app stores operating in the EU market, including the Epic Games Store. Epic has repeatedly criticized Apple’s fee policies for hindering competitors from gaining a foothold, but it continues to operate while awaiting further scrutiny of Apple’s rules by EU regulators.
NVIDIA blog typo misstates a unit, correction triggers copper price fluctuations
According to Caixin, a blog post published by NVIDIA in May 2025 has recently drawn renewed attention from the market. In the article, NVIDIA stated that a 1-megawatt (MW) rack requires 200 kilograms of copper busbars, and that the rack busbars of a 1-gigawatt (GW) data center would require 500,000 tons (half a million tons) of copper.
Since 1 GW equals 1,000 MW, a proportional calculation would mean that a 1 GW data center should require 1,000 times 200 kilograms of copper, or 200,000 kilograms. Therefore, the “500,000 tons” figure in NVIDIA’s original text was clearly a typo. NVIDIA later corrected the mistake.
However, the figure had already been cited by many market research reports, and NVIDIA’s correction directly led to a short-term drop in international copper prices. After reaching a record high of USD 13,407 per ton on January 14, LME copper futures retreated for two consecutive days, with a cumulative pullback of about 3.4%, temporarily falling below the 10-day moving average (MA10).
In fact, driven by factors such as tariff arbitrage in the United States, constrained copper mine supply, and new demand from AI, copper prices had repeatedly hit new highs in the second half of 2025. LME copper rose from around USD 9,900 per ton in early September 2025 and, for the first time in history, broke through USD 13,000 per ton in January 2026. Citi expects copper prices to reach USD 14,000 per ton over the next three months.
Huawei smartphone shipments return to No.1 in China for the first time in five years in 2025
According to data released by IDC and cited by Nikkei, Huawei reclaimed the top position in China’s smartphone shipments in 2025, returning to No.1 for the first time in five years. In absolute terms, Huawei shipped 46.7 million smartphones in 2025, a year-on-year decline of 1.9%. However, as vivo—the top vendor in 2024—saw a sharp drop of 6.6%, Huawei overtook it to claim first place.
Previously, Huawei had been restricted in procuring high-performance semiconductors and was unable to offer 5G, which drove consumers away. In recent years, however, the company has revived sales with its Kirin chips. The launch of its latest model, the Mate 80, in November 2025 further boosted performance, added AI features capable of automatically handling various tasks, and was priced lower than its predecessor.
Apple of the United States ranked second, with shipments rising 4% to 46.2 million units. Sales of the iPhone 17 series, launched in September 2025, were strong. Toward the end of 2025, Apple also stimulated demand by offering a 300-yuan discount on its high-end Pro and Pro Max models through official sales channels.
Overall smartphone shipments in China fell 0.6% in 2025 to 284.6 million units, the first year-on-year decline in two years. Although government subsidies encouraging trade-ins provided some support, in certain regions the subsidy quotas were used up early, weakening momentum. Against the backdrop of subdued consumption, IDC forecasts shipments of 278 million units in 2026, continuing to fall below the previous year.
Rumors You Can Just Glance At
- On the afternoon of January 16, Jia Guolong, founder of Xibei Oat Noodles Village, announced on his personal Weibo account that he would give a comprehensive response at 10 p.m. to what he described as serious slander and defamation by Luo Yonghao against Xibei, and invited media, netizens, and relevant government departments to follow the matter. Luo Yonghao soon reposted the message, saying he would try to remain patient. However, when 10 p.m. arrived, Jia Guolong’s personal Weibo account did not publish any update. At present, the accounts of both Luo Yonghao and Jia Guolong have been muted. The response Jia mentioned was eventually published in text-and-image form on Xibei Group’s verified account (@西贝人心声). Jia stated that Luo had implied in a previously published article that Jia had colluded with relevant authorities to carry out a “cross-province arrest” against him, which Jia said maliciously incited public sentiment. He demanded that Luo explain the matter clearly and go together to the relevant government departments to verify whether there had been any report to the police or request for an arrest. The post was later deleted. Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei (@来去之间) then posted, citing the Cyberspace Administration of China’s “negative behavior list for online celebrity accounts,” saying that “in the future, if people want to engage in public disputes, they should probably do so through media interviews.” Luo Yonghao later acknowledged that he had been muted for 15 days and said he would no longer comment on the Xibei incident.
- On January 15, the mainland China App Store could no longer find the solo-living safety app “死了么” (“Are You Dead Yet”), which had recently drawn attention for its unusual name, while it remained available in App Stores in other regions. Previously, on January 13, the app announced on its official Weibo account that it would officially adopt the global brand name “Demumu” in its upcoming new version. On January 14, its official account said that the previous renaming attempt had not been satisfactory and that it was soliciting creative ideas from across the internet.
