SSPAI Morning Brief: Are CO₂ Levels Too High on China’s High-Speed Trains?

Morning Brief

High-speed train customer service and experts respond to “excessive CO₂ levels on high-speed trains”
cURL to terminate its bug bounty program after being overwhelmed by AI-generated reports
China Unicom launches “Apple Fan” mobile plan
Microsoft confirms handing over BitLocker encryption keys to the FBI
Meta layoffs spark concerns over a “VR winter”
First-generation Pokémon becomes a popular method for testing AI models
Rumors You Can Just Glance At

High-speed rail customer service and experts respond to “excessive CO₂ levels on high-speed trains”

According to reports by The Beijing News and other outlets, a video showing carbon dioxide concentration measurements taken inside a second-class carriage on a high-speed train has recently sparked heated discussion online. The footage shows that before passengers boarded, the CO₂ concentration inside the carriage fluctuated at around 880 ppm (parts per million, a unit of concentration). As passengers were boarding and taking their seats, the CO₂ level had already begun to rise. After the train had been running for some time, the CO₂ concentration inside the carriage exceeded 2,000 ppm, at which point most of the passengers shown in the video had already fallen asleep. The report noted that under China’s current Indoor Air Quality Standard, the standard limit for indoor carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration is ≤ 1,000 ppm (i.e., ≤ 0.1%). The CO₂ levels shown in the video were therefore far above this limit.

In response, different 12306 customer service representatives gave varying explanations. One said that if passengers feel unwell during the journey, they can “use oxygen on their own.” Another claimed that “there is currently no such standard.” Yet another said that air is replaced in real time during operation, and system checks are carried out both before departure and after arrival, so “there is definitely no problem with the air,” adding that the higher CO₂ concentration might be due to increased passenger density.

Later, Xinhua News Agency interviewed Tao Guidong, an expert on high-speed trainsets from CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of multiple-unit trains. Tao explained that China’s standard for controlling indoor CO₂ concentration in passenger trains follows TB/T 3493-2017, Railway Vehicle Air Conditioning – Pressure Protection Device, under which the standard limit under normal operating conditions is no more than 2,500 ppm. European standards, he added, allow up to 5,000 ppm. The civil building standards used by some netizens for comparison do not apply to passenger trains.

Tao also said that air exchange inside high-speed train carriages is entirely handled by the air-conditioning and ventilation system. When operating in non-tunnel sections, continuous air exchange can be achieved, and CO₂ concentrations generally do not exceed 1,500 ppm. When passing through continuous groups of tunnels, pressure protection measures are taken to close off channels to outside air, during which CO₂ levels inside the carriage may rise for a short period of time.

cURL to terminate its bug bounty program after being overwhelmed by AI-generated reports

On January 22, the globally well-known open-source data transfer tool cURL announced that it will officially terminate its bug bounty program at the end of this month. The updated security.txt file on cURL’s website (a file commonly used in the industry to specify channels for submitting security reports) now states: “We do not offer any reward or other form of compensation for reported issues, but we will clearly express our thanks and recognition in the documentation confirming the issue. If you waste our time with garbage reports, we will ban you and ridicule you in public.”

In response, project founder and lead developer Daniel Stenberg said that the team has recently been inundated with large numbers of low-quality vulnerability reports generated by artificial intelligence, leaving the maintainers overwhelmed. To safeguard the “mental health” of team members and ensure the project can continue to operate normally, the official team had no choice but to make this decision.

For a long time, the cURL team, like many software developers, has used cash rewards to encourage external researchers to submit high-severity security vulnerabilities. However, since May last year, Stenberg has been warning that AI-generated “slop” has been surging. Large numbers of speculators blindly use large language models to generate reports, which are filled with hallucinations, including fabricated CVE IDs, nonexistent function signatures, and even code snippets that cannot be compiled at all. This invalid information forces maintainers to spend huge amounts of time on verification and investigation.

Despite its massive user base, cURL is in fact a small open-source project run by only a handful of core maintainers. Stenberg said the team has no ability to change the reality of people abusing AI tools, and can only respond by cutting off the source of incentives. It is worth noting that the project is not completely opposed to AI-assisted security research. In September last year, Stenberg publicly praised a researcher who used an AI-based code analysis tool (ZeroPath) to discover and help fix 22 real vulnerabilities. He stressed that the core problem lies not with the tool itself, but with speculative behavior by people who neither understand code nor perform even basic checks on AI outputs before submitting them directly.

China Unicom launches “Apple Fan” mobile plan

On January 23, China Unicom announced the launch of the “Apple Fan · King Card” plan. This product is a derivative version of the “King Card 3.0” plan, with its core selling point being the integration of AppleCare Services benefits into the mobile tariff. The discounted monthly fee for the first year is RMB 49. After activating the SIM card and making an initial top-up of RMB 50, users can receive up to 24 months of benefits, including unlimited accidental front-screen repairs, free battery replacement (when capacity drops below 80%), and Apple officially certified technical support.

In terms of basic mobile services, the plan includes 30 GB of dedicated data, 20 GB of general data, and an additional 30 GB of general data provided as a promotional bonus each month. China Unicom also highlights features such as eSIM support, “one number for two devices” for smartwatches and phones, and international roaming packages priced at RMB 9.9 per day.

According to the terms of the benefits, users must claim AppleCare Services within 90 days after activating the SIM card. The bound iPhone must be a new mainland China model activated within the past 30 days, and its IMEI must be verified. The system checks eligibility on a monthly basis; if the actual monthly fee paid for the plan is below RMB 59, or if the account is not in normal active status, the AppleCare benefits for that month will automatically become invalid. If users choose not to claim AppleCare Services, they may instead opt for internet subscription benefits such as Tencent Video, iQIYI, or QQ Music.

It is worth noting that, unlike AppleCare+ sold through Apple’s official channels, AppleCare Services is a protection plan provided by Apple via third-party suppliers, and the specific scope of coverage depends on the supplier. For example, the AppleCare Services offered through the “Apple Fan · King Card” plan does not include repairs for damage other than screen breakage and battery issues. In the past, Apple has also sold AppleCare Services through authorized retailers that covered only screen repair.

Microsoft confirms handing over BitLocker encryption keys to the FBI

According to Forbes, Microsoft recently confirmed that it had handed over BitLocker recovery keys to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in compliance with a legal order, helping unlock three laptops involved in a suspected fraud case. This is the first known case in which Microsoft has directly provided such encryption keys to law enforcement. BitLocker is a built-in disk encryption tool in Windows designed to protect hard-drive data from unauthorized access.

In response, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the company receives about 20 such key-access requests each year, and stressed that as long as there is a valid legal search warrant and Microsoft has access to the keys, it will cooperate. In this case, because the users had chosen to back up their keys to Microsoft’s servers, Microsoft technically had the ability to assist law enforcement. The spokesperson also pointed out that while cloud-based recovery provides convenience, it does carry the risk of external access. If users choose to store their keys locally on hardware such as a USB drive rather than in the cloud, Microsoft would be unable to provide assistance.

The incident highlights differences between Microsoft’s privacy architecture and that of other tech giants. Companies such as Apple and Meta adopt stricter “end-to-end” encryption strategies, under which even the service provider itself cannot access users’ decryption keys. For example, Apple refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of a suspect in the 2016 San Bernardino shooting, and has implemented technical designs in FileVault and its cloud services that prevent law enforcement from requesting such keys. By contrast, Microsoft’s current default settings leave cloud-backed-up keys in a state that the company itself can read.

Meta layoffs spark concerns over a “VR winter”

According to CNBC, Meta has recently carried out large-scale layoffs in its Reality Labs division, which is responsible for the company’s metaverse business. About 10% of employees were affected, involving roughly 1,000 people. The layoffs mainly targeted VR teams working on the Quest headsets and the virtual social platform Horizon Worlds, and some internal studios were also shut down. The move is widely seen as a sign that Meta’s strategic focus is shifting from virtual reality (VR) to AI and wearable devices such as its Ray-Ban co-branded smart glasses, triggering industry concerns that a “VR winter” may be approaching.

Market data supports this shift. According to the latest IDC report, while overall shipments of extended reality (XR) devices are expected to grow by 41.6% in 2025, the growth will be driven mainly by AI smart glasses rather than traditional VR headsets. IDC forecasts that shipments of VR and mixed reality headsets will plunge by 42.8% in 2025 to 3.9 million units. By contrast, shipments of AI glasses are expected to more than double. Analysts note that market feedback shows VR headsets remain largely confined to a niche group of gamers, and that mainstream consumers have little interest in wearing bulky headsets for long periods.

In response to the criticism, Meta’s chief technology officer said the company is not abandoning VR but adjusting the scale of its investment. He acknowledged that the VR market is growing more slowly than expected, making it necessary to rebalance spending. Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey also said that while the layoffs are regrettable, they may benefit the industry’s long-term health. Since the end of 2020, Reality Labs has accumulated losses of more than USD 70 billion.

The strategic shift has dealt a blow to third-party developers that rely on Meta’s ecosystem. The head of Owlchemy Labs, a VR studio under Google, likened the current VR market to the Atari era before the U.S. video game crash of 1983, arguing that VR is undergoing a necessary market correction. According to IDC, Apple’s China-based manufacturing partner Luxshare Precision has stopped producing the Vision Pro headset, indicating that even high-end VR devices are facing weak demand.

First-generation Pokémon becomes a popular method for testing AI models

According to The Wall Street Journal, AI labs in Silicon Valley are widely adopting an unconventional benchmarking method: using Nintendo’s classic 1990s game Pokémon to evaluate models’ reasoning and decision-making abilities. Companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google have been having their AI models play Pokémon Red/Blue to visually demonstrate progress in long-term planning and complex task handling.

The trend was initiated by David Hershey, head of applied AI at Anthropic, who launched a “Claude Plays Pokémon” Twitch livestream in February last year, which was soon followed by similar efforts from OpenAI and Google. At present, developer-built projects such as “GPT Plays Pokémon” and “Gemini Plays Pokémon,” with the help of specialized auxiliary frameworks, have successfully completed the original games and are moving on to their sequels; meanwhile, Anthropic’s latest model, Claude Opus 4.5, is currently attempting a full playthrough live on stream.

Researchers point out that, unlike traditional question-and-answer benchmarks, Pokémon requires sustained reasoning and decision-making over long periods. Models must navigate mazes, assemble teams, and devise battle strategies based on opponents’ attributes. This nonlinear and complex environment is less constrained than traditional board games and more accurately simulates the challenges AI systems face when handling long-horizon, multi-step tasks in the real world, making it an ideal testbed for evaluating AI agent capabilities.

Beyond evaluating the models themselves, the project has also become a hands-on exercise in developing AI support software, known in the industry as a “harness.” To enable smooth gameplay, developers need to build external tools such as memory systems to help models retain key information. David Hershey said that he has already applied the experience gained from building Claude’s in-game memory module directly to advising enterprise clients on deploying complex commercial AI systems.

Rumors You Can Just Glance At

Recently, JD.com and Tmall announced that they will launch a special promotion for the iPhone Air at 20:00 on January 25. After stacking a RMB 2,000 platform coupon and a RMB 500 national subsidy available in some regions, the 256 GB model will drop to RMB 5,499 on both platforms; JD.com will also offer an additional RMB 400 subsidy for trade-ins. The offer is limited by promotional stock. Previously, supply chain sources and media reports suggested that the iPhone Air has underperformed expectations. For example, blogger @数码闲聊站 recently claimed that cumulative activations of the iPhone Air currently stand at fewer than 200,000 units. By comparison, all models in the iPhone 17 lineup have each surpassed 4 million activations over the same period, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max exceeding 8.26 million units. In addition, Apple launched its Chinese New Year limited-time promotion on January 24, mainly covering the previous-generation iPhone 16 series, iPad, and Mac product lines. Among them, MacBook Pro models with M4/M5 chips receive discounts of up to RMB 1,000, while the iPhone 16 series is discounted by up to RMB 300.
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the owner of German camera maker Leica Camera AG is considering selling a controlling stake in the company, in a potential deal that could value it at around EUR 1 billion. Potential bidders include HSG (formerly Sequoia China) and private equity firm Altor Equity Partners. Leica’s current major shareholders are the family of Austrian billionaire Andreas Kaufmann and Blackstone Inc. Sources said the Kaufmann family may choose to reinvest after a deal is completed, retaining part of its stake. Discussions are still at an early stage, and there is no guarantee a transaction will be finalized. Blackstone, HSG, and Leica all declined to comment. Although Leica faced severe financial difficulties in 2005, its performance has been steady in recent years after being taken private by the Kaufmann family in 2012. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, Leica’s revenue rose 7.6% to about EUR 596 million, mainly driven by growth in its core photography equipment and mobile imaging businesses.
Mark Gurman claims that the first batch of features in the new version of Siri is expected to officially launch with iOS 26.4, scheduled for release in March or April. Although internally codenamed Apple Foundation Models v10, its core computing power is in fact provided by Gemini and will initially run on Apple’s private cloud servers. Later, at the WWDC developer conference in the summer, Apple will unveil a brand-new Siri architecture codenamed “Campos,” to debut with iOS 27. This version will feature deep multi-turn conversations and contextual understanding similar to ChatGPT, and plans to directly use Google’s cloud TPU infrastructure to improve response speeds.
Gurman also claims that Apple plans to intensively refresh the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Studio product lines in the first half of the year, and may release a long-unupdated Studio Display. A low-cost MacBook powered by an A-series chip is under development, targeting the education and entry-level markets. In addition, development of the next-generation M6 chip is reportedly ahead of schedule and may debut sooner than expected.
According to Android Authority, text strings such as “unverified direct install,” “unable to verify app developer,” and “online verification required” have appeared in the latest version of Google Play’s code. This suggests that when users attempt to install APK files, installation will still be possible, but they will have to go through a cumbersome confirmation process, with mandatory pop-up warnings about risks. Matthew Forsyth, director of developer experience and product management for Google Play, confirmed that a “high-friction” sideloading process will be introduced into Android, with the goal of “layered responsibility.” Previously, Google announced a controversial policy last summer that initially planned, starting in 2026, to require all Android developers—regardless of whether they distribute via the Play Store—to register and verify their identities with Google. After strong backlash, Google compromised, promising to retain manual installation options for “advanced users.” Based on the latest confirmation, this feature has entered the preparation stage, and the barrier for ordinary users to obtain third-party apps will effectively be raised. The aforementioned verification plan is expected to begin pilot implementation this September in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, before gradually rolling out globally.
According to Sherwood, as of early January 2026, the number of registered .ai domain names worldwide has officially surpassed one million, bringing substantial fiscal windfalls to Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is estimated that the region generated about USD 70 million from domain-related business alone over the past year. Anguilla has a population of only around 15,000. In the mid-1990s, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) assigned .ai as the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the territory. Currently, the standard fee to register a .ai domain is typically USD 140 for two years, with a renewal rate as high as 90%, providing the local government with stable cash flow. In addition, expired-domain auctions held by registrar Namecheap have been highly profitable. Data shows that the domain you.ai sold for USD 700,000 last September; in just the past week, 31 expired domains have been auctioned for a total of about USD 1.2 million.
On January 24, Tencent QQ announced via its official Weibo account that it will bring back the QQ Show feature. The new version of QQ Show can be generated by AI based on uploaded images, replacing avatars on personal profile pages and in chat interfaces, and can generate animations together with other users’ avatars in group chats. The company also teased the return of more classic features. QQ Show first appeared in QQ2000C as a virtual avatar design system. Virtual clothing, scenes, and characters in the QQ Show store could be used to decorate users’ avatars displayed in the PC version of QQ. Tencent once launched a “Red Diamond” subscription service priced at RMB 10 per month, allowing paying users to use all QQ Show items for free. In 2020, the Red Diamond service stopped accepting renewals and top-ups. In November 2021, most QQ Show display sections were removed from the PC version of QQ. At the time, “QQ Show discontinued” trended on Weibo.

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