24-hour news update Page 15

IT House reported on February 16 that on February 15, local time, according to foreign media Videocardz, the RPCS3 team announced that it had moved all SingStar series works out of the "Intro" status, reducing the number of models in this category from 101 to 62. Among the remaining 62 games, 46 are PlayStation Move somatosensory games.

According to IT House's understanding, "Playable" means that the game can be fully played and cleared without fatal problems; "Ingame" means that the actual process of the game can be entered, but there may be serious faults or insufficient performance, and it is temporarily unable to pass the level stably; "Intro" means that although the game can be started and the screen is displayed, it cannot pass the opening or menu stage.

It should be noted that purely online games will not be included in the official statistical totals even if they are displayed under the "Intro", "Loadable" or "Nothing" categories. At the same time, the statistical results will change according to the choice of viewing PS3 games or PS3 applications, and the database data will also be continuously updated.

The meaning of each status can be understood as:

In the "Loadable" category, currently only two non-pure online games are still included in the statistics, namely "VR Kombat 5 Trial Version" and "Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics".

Overall, the core of this update is to reduce the number of games that can be launched but cannot actually be played. The team's focus is to advance some works from "Intro" to "Ingame" status, that is, at least able to enter the actual game screen stage, but further repairs and optimization are needed before reaching the final "Playable" standard.

China News Service, Moscow, February 15th. Moscow Mayor Sobyanin posted on social media on the evening of the 15th that the Russian air defense system destroyed another six drones flying to Moscow, and emergency department staff were working at the location where the drone wreckage fell. So far, the Russian air defense system shot down a total of 18 Ukrainian drones flying to Moscow that day.

The Russian Ministry of Defense posted on social media that day that from 23:00 on the 14th to 9:00 on the 15th, Moscow time, the Russian air defense system intercepted and destroyed 156 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over multiple areas in the country.

From 9:00 to 13:00, the Russian air defense system intercepted and shot down 102 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula and Moscow regions, including 3 drones flying to Moscow. From 13:00 to 18:00, the Russian air defense system intercepted and shot down 123 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over the Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula, Kursk, Orel, Belgorod, Vladimir and Moscow regions, including 15 flying to Moscow.

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency announced earlier that day that in order to ensure the safety of civilian flights, Moscow Domodedovo Airport and Vnukovo Airport have implemented temporary air traffic control and suspended flight takeoffs and landings. At present, relevant airports have announced the lifting of aviation controls and the resumption of flight takeoffs and landings.

According to Russian media reports on the 15th, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gerasimov said during an inspection of the Central Cluster Force that the Russian army has taken control of 12 residential areas originally controlled by the Ukrainian army since February. The Russian army is currently continuing to advance in all directions in the special military operations zone. He also said that the current focus of the Ukrainian army is to form more drone units and increase the number of attack drones, while the Russian army uses drones twice as frequently as the Ukrainian army on average. (over)

As of the close on February 13, 2026, Poly Development (600048) closed at 6.74 yuan, down 3.44% from last week's 6.98 yuan. This week, Poly Development’s highest intraday price was 7.29 yuan on February 9. The lowest intraday price on February 13 was 6.71 yuan. Poly Development’s latest total market value is 80.681 billion yuan, ranking 2/89th in market value in the real estate development sector, and 235/5189th in the A-share market value of the two cities.

Focus on this week

Summary of company announcements

Poly Development Holding Group Co., Ltd. received a review inquiry letter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange on January 19, 2026, regarding the company’s application documents for issuance of convertible corporate bonds to specific objects. The company has completed the inquiry response together with relevant intermediaries, and has supplemented and revised the "Prospectus" and other documents. The relevant documents have been disclosed on the same day.

The total amount of funds planned to be raised in this issuance will not exceed 500,000,000 yuan, and the number of issuances will be 50 million convertible corporate bonds. The bond term will be six years and no guarantee will be provided. The funds raised will be used for nine real estate development projects under construction in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Foshan, Shijiazhuang and other places. The projects have all obtained registration, approval and pre-sale permits, and meet the policy requirements of "guaranteeing the delivery of buildings and protecting people's livelihood".

Beijing Deheng Law Firm issued a supplementary legal opinion, confirming that the implementation entity of the fundraising project has the corresponding qualifications and that the project does not have major delivery risks. As a sponsor, China International Capital Corporation issued a letter of sponsorship for the issuance and a letter of sponsorship for listing and transfer. It believed that this issuance complied with the requirements of laws and regulations and met the conditions for listing and transfer on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Lixin Accounting Firm verified issues such as financial investment and the rationality of the scale of raised funds involved in the review letter of inquiry, and confirmed that the information disclosed was true and accurate, and the use of raised funds complied with regulations. The company has established a management system for raised funds to ensure that earmarked funds are used exclusively. During the reporting period, the company's revenue and profits declined, mainly affected by the overall adjustment of the real estate industry. However, the company's financial position was stable, with no large debt defaults and no large long-term financial investments at the end of the most recent period.

This issuance still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and approved for registration by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. There is uncertainty as to whether it can ultimately be implemented and when it will be implemented. The company will fulfill its information disclosure obligations based on progress.

The above content is compiled by Securities Star based on public information and generated by an AI algorithm (Network Information No. 310104345710301240019) and does not constitute investment advice.

The recently released China Monetary Policy Implementation Report for the Fourth Quarter of 2025 by the People's Bank of China shows that the effects of moderately loose monetary policy in 2025 will gradually appear, and the total financial volume will maintain rapid growth. Regarding the monetary policy in the next stage, the report clearly stated that it will continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy to support the "15th Five-Year Plan" to achieve a good start.

Support stable growth of the real economy

The report believes that since last year, the People's Bank of China has implemented a moderately loose monetary policy. On the basis of implementing the existing monetary policy, it has also launched a package of monetary and financial policies to strengthen countercyclical adjustments and effectively support the stable growth of the real economy and the smooth operation of the financial market.

——Maintain reasonable growth of money and credit. Comprehensive use of various monetary policy tools such as the deposit reserve ratio and open market operations will be used to maintain sufficient liquidity. Guide financial institutions to strengthen project reserves and credit extension to fully meet the effective credit needs of the real economy.

——Promote the reduction of comprehensive social financing costs at low levels. Lowering policy interest rates, interest rates on structural monetary policy tools and interest rates on personal housing provident fund loans will strongly support the reduction of comprehensive social financing costs. Strengthen the implementation and supervision of monetary policy and improve the self-discipline management of interest rates.

——Increase support for major strategies, key areas and weak links. We will enrich and improve the system of structural monetary policy tools, adjust and optimize the credit structure, and support the "five major articles" of finance. Increase the amount of re-loans for scientific and technological innovation and technological transformation, and re-loans to support agriculture and small businesses by 300 billion yuan each, and create 500 billion yuan of service consumption and pension re-loans, and 200 billion yuan of scientific and technological innovation bond risk-sharing instruments.

——Keep the exchange rate basically stable. We must insist that the market plays a decisive role in the formation of exchange rates, give full play to the regulatory function of exchange rates on the macroeconomy and the balance of payments, and implement comprehensive policies to maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level.

——Financial risks in key areas continue to converge. Integrate and establish the Macro-prudential and Financial Stability Committee of the People's Bank of China to further improve the macro-prudential management and financial stability guarantee system. Optimize and support the two monetary policy tools of the capital market, and support Huijin's role as a "quasi stabilization fund". Steadily promote the disposal of financial risks in key institutions and key regions.

Financing structure continues to be optimized

In recent years, the People's Bank of China has continuously improved the system of structural monetary policy tools to support major strategies, key areas and weak links, further enhance the adaptability of financial services to economic structural adjustment and high-quality development, and promote the continuous optimization of the financing structure.

From the perspective of investment distribution, by the end of 2025, technology loans, green loans, inclusive loans, elderly care industry loans, and digital economy industry loans have increased by 11.5%, 20.2%, 10.9%, 50.5%, and 14.1% respectively year-on-year, which are higher than the growth rate of all loans.

From the perspective of term structure, at the end of 2025, short-term RMB loans accounted for approximately 24.9%, and medium- and long-term loans accounted for approximately 66.5%. Among them, medium- and long-term loans to enterprises (institutions) increased by 8.8 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, accounting for approximately 57.0% of all corporate loans.

From the perspective of the main structure, at the end of 2025, RMB household loans from financial institutions accounted for approximately 30.6%, and loans to enterprises (institutions) accounted for approximately 68.1%.

In terms of financing methods, at the end of 2025, direct financing, including corporate bonds, government bonds and domestic stock financing of non-financial enterprises, accounted for approximately 32.0% of the stock of social financing, an increase of 0.4 and 1.4 percentage points respectively from the end of September and the end of 2024.

The development of green finance is not only a need for the comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of society, but also an inevitable requirement for the high-quality development of finance itself. The report shows that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the average annual growth rate of green loans was 30.2%, 21.1 percentage points higher than that of all loans, and the proportion of green loan balances in all loans increased significantly from 6.7% to 16.2%; a total of 5.2 trillion yuan of green bonds were issued, with a balance of 2.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.8 times from the end of 2020, and the scale ranks among the top in the world.

Continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy

The report states that in the next stage, the People's Bank of China will balance the short-term and long-term, support the real economy and maintain the health of the banking system itself, internal balance and external balance, strengthen the consistency of macro policy orientation, make counter-cyclical and inter-cyclical adjustments, improve the efficiency of macroeconomic governance, and support the "15th Five-Year Plan" to achieve a good start.

First, continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy. We should regard the promotion of stable economic growth and reasonable price recovery as important considerations in monetary policy, and grasp the intensity, rhythm and timing of policy implementation based on the domestic and international economic and financial situations and the operation of financial markets. Flexibly and efficiently use various policy tools such as reserve requirement ratio and interest rate cuts to maintain sufficient liquidity and relatively loose social financing conditions, guide the reasonable growth of financial aggregates, and balance the release of credit, so that the growth of social financing scale and money supply matches the expected goals of economic growth and overall price levels.

Secondly, further improve the interest rate control framework, strengthen the central bank's policy interest rate guidance, improve the market-oriented interest rate formation and transmission mechanism, give full play to the role of the market interest rate pricing self-discipline mechanism, strengthen the implementation and supervision of interest rate policies, reduce bank liability costs, and promote the low operation of comprehensive social financing costs.

At the same time, the coverage of explicit disclosure of comprehensive financing costs for corporate loans will be expanded in an orderly manner. Effectively implement various structural monetary policy tools, solidly implement the "five major articles" of finance, and strengthen financial support for key areas such as expanding domestic demand, technological innovation, and small, medium and micro enterprises.

In addition, we will adhere to a managed floating exchange rate system based on market supply and demand and adjusted with reference to a basket of currencies, maintain exchange rate flexibility, give full play to the function of the exchange rate as an automatic stabilizer in regulating macroeconomics and the balance of payments, strengthen guidance on expectations, prevent the risk of exchange rate overshooting, and maintain the basic stability of the RMB exchange rate at a reasonable and balanced level. We will expand and enrich the macro-prudential and financial stability functions of the central bank, improve the macro-prudential and financial stability management toolbox, maintain financial market stability, and resolutely maintain the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks.

On February 14, local time, German Chancellor Mertz met with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, in Munich.

Wang Yi first conveyed the cordial greetings from Chinese leaders to Mertz. Wang Yi said that Mr. Prime Minister’s speech at the opening ceremony of the Munich Security Conference yesterday reflected Germany and Europe’s desire for strategic independence, self-reliance and self-reliance. China supports Germany in playing a greater role in this regard. All initiatives and actions China takes on the international stage are aimed at safeguarding the international system with the United Nations at its core. Although the authority and status of the United Nations have been weakened, its important position remains irreplaceable. President Xi Jinping proposed the global governance initiative to revitalize the United Nations and build a more fair and reasonable global governance system. Against this background, China and Germany should demonstrate their responsibilities as major powers and make new contributions to promoting world peace and development. We also expect Germany to become a propeller for China-EU practical cooperation and a stable anchor for China-EU strategic relations.

Wang Yi said that China and Germany have many common interests and complementary advantages, and strengthening cooperation is a strategic choice based on the practical needs of the two countries. China's insistence on high-level opening up will provide huge opportunities for German companies to invest and start business. It is hoped that Germany will also provide a fairer and just business environment for Chinese companies. China is willing to work with Germany to prepare for high-level exchanges in the next stage, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, explore trilateral cooperation, and promote China-Germany all-round strategic partnership to a new level.

Mertz asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to the Chinese leaders. Mertz said that China has achieved brilliant development achievements that have attracted worldwide attention, has become a world power, and plays a decisive role in the international community. Germany is committed to safeguarding the rules-based international order and safeguarding the status and role of the World Trade Organization, which is consistent with China's concept of global governance. Germany and China jointly adhere to and practice these concepts, which is beneficial to both countries and the world. Germany and China have close economic and trade relations, and both sides are beneficiaries and supporters of economic globalization. We should seize opportunities, tap potential, and deepen cooperation. Germany has always opposed protectionism, advocated free trade, and encouraged German companies to increase investment and cooperation with China. Germany adheres to the one-China policy and looks forward to intensifying high-level exchanges with China, advancing cooperation in various fields, and promoting greater development of Germany-China relations.

On February 14, local time, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister, attended the Munich Security Conference, delivered a speech at the "China Session" and answered questions on the spot.

Wang Yi said that it is not all smooth sailing and calm in Asia, and we must now be wary of Japan's recent dangerous trends. Japan's current Prime Minister actually publicly claimed that any incident in the Taiwan Strait would constitute an "existential crisis situation" in which Japan could exercise its right to collective self-defense. This is the first time in the 80 years since the war that a Japanese Prime Minister has publicly made such wild claims. It directly challenges China's national sovereignty, directly challenges the post-war international order in which Taiwan has been returned to China, and directly betrays Japan's political commitments to China. Of course China cannot agree, and even 1.4 billion Chinese people will not accept it!

Wang Yi said that since we are in Germany today, we might as well make a comparison between the post-war handling of Japan and Europe. After the war, Germany carried out a comprehensive liquidation of fascism and enacted laws prohibiting the promotion of Nazism. Japan still enshrines Class-A war criminals in shrines, and Japanese dignitaries flock to worship them and regard them as "heroic spirits." This phenomenon is unimaginable in Europe, and this is the root of all problems.

Wang Yi stressed that the Japanese leader’s erroneous remarks on the Taiwan issue exposed Japan’s lingering ambition to invade and colonize Taiwan and its lingering specter of resurrected militarism. Japan used the so-called "existential crisis" as an excuse to launch aggression against China and attack Pearl Harbor in the United States. Yin Jian is not far away and must be observed. If you don't repent, you will inevitably repeat the same mistakes. Kind people should be vigilant. First of all, we must remind the Japanese people not to be deceived and threatened by far-right forces and extremist ideological trends again. All peace-loving countries must also issue a warning to Japan: If it goes back, it will be self-destruction. If you gamble again, you will only lose faster and worse!

On February 13, 2026, the 62nd Munich Security Conference was officially opened at the Bavarian Manor Hotel in Germany. At this rally, which is regarded as a benchmark for global security, German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz delivered an opening speech that shocked the NATO defense system. Berlin made it clear at this meeting that it has significantly upgraded its strategic alignment with Paris on the establishment of a "European Common Defense Framework", and its core direction is extremely clear: Germany and France will focus on in-depth cooperation in the field of nuclear deterrence to deal with the systemic collapse of U.S. security commitments.

This announcement marked a structural break in the transatlantic security architecture that had existed for eighty years after World War II. Faced with the violent internal political turmoil in the United States and the collapse of the external geopolitical order, core European countries are being forced to sever their absolute reliance on the United States' "security umbrella." This turn is not a diplomatic gesture, but the inevitable result of the European core seeking an independent and aggressive survival model after experiencing a series of geopolitical blows.

The physical breakdown of the transatlantic chain of trust

The Munich Security Conference has always been regarded as a family gathering of the Western camp, aiming to coordinate European and American positions. However, this meeting in 2026 is full of liquidation and cutting. In his opening speech, German Chancellor Mertz abandoned the implicitness of previous German-style diplomacy and bluntly pointed out that the old global order no longer exists and that U.S. unilateralism cannot cope with the turmoil in the global order caused by itself. This judgment is not groundless, but is based on the avalanche of deterioration in transatlantic relations over the past year.

In 2025, US Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a highly offensive speech on the same occasion, not only accusing European allies of suppressing free speech, but also lashing out at Europe on tariffs and immigration issues. This hostility from the core of Washington, combined with the Trump administration’s subsequent military adventurist policies in Latin America, including the overthrow of Venezuela’s leader and the threat to Greenland’s sovereignty, completely shattered Berlin’s strategic illusions about Washington.

Mertz drew a rare line in his speech with a direct comeback. He made it clear that the culture war caused by the so-called MAGA movement ran counter to European values. Germany rejects protectionism and cannot accept U.S. unilateralism that tramples on the international legal system. This stance is not only a declaration of position, but also a signal of a shift in German foreign policy. Berlin no longer views the United States as the sole cornerstone of security but as an unstable variable that needs to be guarded against.

The Reconstruction of Nuclear Strategy along the Franco-German Axis

In the context of confirming the unreliability of the United States, Europe's only way out lies in self-arming, and the core of this arming touches on the highest taboo in post-war Europe, namely nuclear weapons. The practical nuclear cooperation between Germany and France revealed by Mertz is the most explosive substantive content of this meeting. Since Brexit, France has become the only nuclear power within the EU, possessing the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal. French President Macron has long called for Europe to establish strategic autonomy. However, during the administration of Mertz's predecessor Scholz, Germany always responded coldly to this, preferring to purchase US fighter jets to maintain the NATO nuclear sharing mechanism.

However, drastic changes in the situation forced Mertz, the conservative Prime Minister of Germany's Christian Democratic Union, to make a historic turn. He emphasized at the meeting that although Germany will still abide by its international legal obligations prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons, it must ensure that there will be no security vacuum zone within Europe through deep binding with France. This means that France’s nuclear umbrella will most likely extend to cover German territory in the future. In exchange, Germany will provide France with huge support in terms of conventional military build-up and funding.

Macron’s subsequent speech further confirmed this strategic convergence. He pointed out that the European security architecture designed during the Cold War has completely failed and Europe must learn to become a true geopolitical power. This involves not only nuclear deterrence, but also conventional long-range strike capabilities, which are currently sorely lacking in Europe. The goal of France and Germany is very clear: to build a European Fortress within the NATO framework but with independent combat capabilities and nuclear counterattack capabilities to deal with possible future strategic retreat or betrayal by the United States.

Washington’s strategic anxiety and failure to appease

Faced with the centrifugal movement of its European allies, the U.S. delegation attempted to make tactical repairs. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to use soft diplomatic rhetoric at the meeting to hedge against the damage caused by Vice President Vance. Rubio described the current situation as a decisive moment and emphasized the deep bonding between the United States and Europe in the future. As a potential contender in the 2028 US election, Rubio is trying to project an image of a traditional Republican hawk that is different from isolationism.

However, this red-faced and white-faced strategy did not work. European leaders have realized that Rubio's moderate stance cannot change the basis of the White House decision-makers. According to polling data released by YouGov on Friday, the favorability of the United States among the six major European countries has fallen to the lowest point since 2016. In the eyes of the European public, the threat posed by the United States has even become equal to that of traditional opponents such as Iran and North Korea, and is second only to Russia. This public opinion foundation gives European politicians unprecedented domestic political legitimacy when pursuing de-Americanized security policies.

The indiscriminate tariff policy implemented by the US government over the past year and its coveting of Greenland, a territory of Denmark, a member of NATO, have touched the bottom line of alliance relations. For Mertz and Macron, Rubio’s rhetoric pales in comparison to the Trump administration’s actual actions. Europe no longer listens to its words but watches its actions and prepares for the worst accordingly.

Generational change in the European security architecture

The Munich Security Conference in 2026 is not just a diplomatic confrontation, it marks the complete end of the post-Cold War era. For a long time, Europe's security logic has been based on the implicit contract that the United States will provide a nuclear umbrella and Europe will provide a market. Today, with the rise of U.S. trade protectionism and the wavering of security commitments, this contract has been unilaterally torn up.

Mertz and Macron's alliance is essentially rebuilding order on the ruins. This new security architecture has distinct exclusivity characteristics. It no longer blindly pursues transatlantic coherence, but emphasizes the hard power of Europe's core. By integrating Germany's economic and industrial capabilities with France's nuclear strike capabilities, Europe is trying to squeeze out an independent strategic living space between the United States and Russia.

This process is bound to be fraught with risks. Germany's domestic legal restrictions, the ownership of command of France's nuclear forces, and Eastern European countries' doubts about the Franco-German axis are all huge practical obstacles. But today, when the external living environment is extremely deteriorating, for major European countries, this is no longer a multiple-choice question of whether they should do it, but a must-answer question of how to do it as soon as possible. The chill in Munich did not dissipate because of Rubio's smile. Instead, it gave rise to the continent’s most profound strategic awakening in decades. In the law of the jungle where great powers compete, borders can only be established with a sharp sword in hand.

IT House reported on February 15 that on February 12, local time, Google said that its AI chatbot Gemini was experiencing a large number of "distillation attacks" – that is, inducing the chatbot to leak its internal mechanisms through repeated questions.

Google stated that these attackers tried to continuously test the output patterns and logic of its model by repeatedly asking questions, and probe its internal mechanisms, thereby "cloning" the model or strengthening the attacker's own AI system. One of the attacks prompted Gemini more than 100,000 times.

Google said in a report released on Thursday that the attacks were primarily carried out by "commercially motivated actors." The company determines that the people behind it are mostly AI private companies or research institutions hoping to gain a competitive advantage. A Google spokesperson told NBC News that the attack originated from multiple regions around the world, but declined to disclose more information about the suspected parties.

John Hultquist, chief analyst of Google's Threat Intelligence Group, pointed out that "the scale of the attack against Gemini indicates that such attacks are likely to have begun or will soon spread to the field of customized AI tools for small businesses." He described Google's situation as a "canary in the coal mine," meaning that the encounters of large platforms may indicate broader industry risks.

Google emphasizes that such distillation attacks are intellectual property theft. Technology companies have invested billions of dollars in developing AI chatbots (IT House Note: refers to large language models), and the internal mechanisms of their core models are regarded as highly important proprietary assets. Although major vendors have deployed mechanisms that can identify and block distillation attacks, mainstream large model services are still inherently vulnerable to attacks because they are open to everyone.

Google also mentioned that most attacks are designed to try to trick Gemini's "inference" algorithm, that is, its information processing decision-making mechanism. Holtquist warned that as more companies begin to train customized LLMs for internal business, and these models may contain sensitive data, the potential harm of distillation attacks will be greater. For example, he said that if a company's LLM learns its "100-year trading way of thinking," in theory, it may also be possible to gradually extract key knowledge secrets through distillation methods.

IT House reported on February 15th that AMD R7 9800X3D has another abnormal damage case. This time it appeared on the ASUS TUF Gaming X870-Plus motherboard, and the CPU load when the failure occurred was said to be less than 10%.

A Reddit user (u/seklay) reported that his computer was turned on all night and only ran a few lightweight applications (most of which were running in the background). However, when he got up the next day, he found that it was stuck and the chassis power indicator light was flashing. It was suspected that it had entered sleep or an abnormal power state, but the chassis fan was running at 100% speed.

Later, he forced a restart on the computer, but the system could no longer pass the test. The specific manifestations are: the fan continues to rotate at full speed, the monitor has no signal output, and the DRAM indicator light (orange) of the motherboard's Q-LED is always on.

The user then replaced the 9800X3D with another processor, and the system booted normally, further confirming that the original CPU was damaged. It is said that the user only turned on AMD EXPO and PBO and did not perform manual overclocking. After the CPU was damaged, no obvious signs of burns were found on the appearance of the socket and processor.

In fact, reports of damage to the R7 9800X3D have been common in the past year, with more than 99% of the cases occurring on ASRock and ASUS motherboards.

However, although people often post feedback on this phenomenon, data from the retailer Mindfactory shows that the repair rate of the R7 9800X3D is not higher than that of other Ryzen 9000 series processors. And because this type of damage is often difficult to reproduce, manufacturers still need to conduct detailed investigations into each case to clarify whether it is related to the BIOS, overclocking power supply, or platform firmware. ASUS and ASRock are currently still investigating.

The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics are being held in Italy. Walking on the streets of Milan, you can feel the strong atmosphere of the Winter Olympics. Inside the stadium, athletes from all over the world compete passionately. Outside the stadium, sponsors compete for advertising space and integrate into the city in various ways.

There are always Winter Olympics-themed billboards on the streets of Milan. TCL took over the largest outdoor billboard in the center of Milan, and famous tourist attractions in Milan also attracted a large number of people. On the morning of February 13, local time, there was a long queue at the Olympic concession store in front of Milan Cathedral. In front of another scenic spot, the Sforzesco Castle, there is also a long queue for Coca-Cola’s pop-up store. Not far away is the experience hall set up by Alibaba. An outdoor transparent crystal ball will become a projection surface for AI-generated visual content at night. TCL’s pop-up store is in front of Milan Central Station.

TCL, Alibaba, and Coca-Cola are all sponsors of the Olympic Global Partner Program (TOP), a top Olympic sponsorship project. Chinese brands participating in this sponsorship program include Mengniu. This Winter Olympics has the largest number of TOP Chinese brand sponsors, and the competition of commercial power has become a major attraction of the Olympic events.

From the arena to the business force on the street

As one of the most watched sports events in the world, the Olympic Games have become a sports marketing venue for many international brands.

In principle, the height of buildings in the center of Milan cannot exceed the marble Milan Cathedral. There are not many high-rise buildings, so it is not easy to grab huge outdoor advertising space, but Olympic sponsors have still found some obvious positions. TCL's huge outdoor billboard features a scene of skiing in the background, and the billboard next to it displays the company's air conditioners, washing machines and other products. The Winter Olympics-themed outdoor billboards of Corona, owned by Samsung and Anheuser-Busch InBev, are also large, showing mobile phones and beer.

It is no exaggeration to say that the center of Milan has been transformed into a Winter Olympics theme. In addition to billboards on walls, reporters also saw advertisements for TCL, VISA, and Allianz at bus stops and tram bodies. Taking advantage of the privileges of TOP sponsors, these outdoor advertisements are equipped with the Olympic rings.

This Winter Olympics has 12 TOP sponsors, including 3 Chinese sponsors, 4 American sponsors Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and VISA, two Swiss sponsors Deloitte and OMEGA, as well as the German company Allianz, the Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBev, and the Korean company Samsung. In addition to TOP sponsors, reporters also saw the names of other sponsors at the airport and Olympic Village. For example, there are 8 Premium Partners, 13 Partners, 21 local sponsors, and multiple Official Supporters. Among them, TOP sponsors have the greatest support for the Olympic Games and have the greatest authority for linkage marketing with the Olympic movement.

The reporter learned that these TOP sponsors not only provide financial support for the Olympic Games, but also provide services for the Olympic Games.

There are some areas in the Olympic Village decorated by sponsors. TCL has arranged a living room for athletes and other staff, including the company's TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners and smart glasses. In order to clearly display the details of ice and snow sports, the Winter Olympics games are broadcast on a QD-Mini LED TV with zone light control. There is also Ali's booth in the Olympic Village. After the robotic arm guesses the box with the interactor, it will grab a badge for athletes and staff to exchange badges. Procter & Gamble provides athletes with daily necessities gift packs and services such as shaving. The reporter also saw Samsung’s customized Olympic folding screen mobile phone presented to athletes.

There are many more products or services provided by these TOP manufacturers for this Winter Olympics. For example, TCL provides hundreds of large-screen HDTVs to the International Broadcast Center (IBC). Alibaba’s AI assistants are available online at Olympic committees in many countries and regions to help answer competition issues.

Not only in the Olympic Village, but also in the Winter Olympics venues, TOP sponsors also appear frequently. Bottled water cannot be brought into the venue, but when buying water in the venue, you can always see products from Coca-Cola or its brands. The reporter saw that the logos of TCL and OMEGA were printed on the screens in the arena. When the movements of the figure skaters on the screen are slowed down to display the sliced ​​motion trajectories, Alibaba Cloud's technology is used. The company has also deployed AI-enhanced broadcast special effects technology in multiple venues.

To be frequently exposed during the Olympics and to have various forms of linkage with the Olympics, becoming a TOP sponsor is the most effective way, but becoming a TOP sponsor is not easy. According to regulations, there is only one TOP sponsorship slot for each industry. To squeeze into the TOP plan, it depends on whether there are vacancies for sponsorship slots in the same category. The TOP program also has high requirements on the financial strength of sponsors.

The International Olympic Committee distributes 90% of its revenue to various organizations in the Olympic Movement to support the hosting of the Olympic Games and the development of global sports. As the International Olympic Committee's largest source of income outside of television broadcast rights, the TOP plan provides indispensable financial strength for the hosting of Olympic events. According to the website of the International Olympic Organizing Committee, some companies that have signed up to the 12th phase (2029 to 2032) of the TOP plan have paid more than US$300 million per phase.

Looking back, according to data disclosed by the International Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee received a total of US$7.6 billion in revenue during the Tokyo Olympics cycle (2017-2020/2021), of which TOP plan revenue accounted for approximately 30%, and broadcast rights sales revenue accounted for approximately 61%. From 2021 to 2024, the International Olympic Committee's commercial revenue will be US$7.7 billion, with revenue from the TOP program accounting for 36%, and revenue from the TOP program and broadcast rights sales accounting for a total of 91%.

Brands need to carry out sports marketing, and other methods include endorsements. For example, Gu Ailing, who won the first silver medal for the Chinese sports delegation at this Winter Olympics, is TCL’s global brand spokesperson.

There are of course other ways to generate revenue for the Olympic Movement. The most common are ticket and concession merchandise sales. The reporter saw that there are Olympic franchise stores in the Olympic Village, Olympic venues, densely populated attractions and even some hotels in Milan. The price of a short-sleeved shirt is around 40 euros, and sweatshirts and jackets are even more expensive. These Olympic peripherals are also selling like hot cakes. In the Olympic venues, some products are already in short supply, and some clothes are not available in all sizes.

The number of top sponsors in China reaches a new high

This Winter Olympics is the Winter Olympics with the largest number of events and the largest number of athletes outside China. While athletes compete, Chinese sponsors are also particularly eye-catching.

Since Lenovo became the first Chinese TOP sponsor during the Beijing Olympic Games, China's TOP sponsor array has gradually expanded in recent years. Alibaba and Mengniu joined the TOP program in 2017 and 2019 respectively. During the larger round of sponsor array adjustments after the Paris Olympics, TCL replaced Panasonic, the original sponsor of home audio-visual equipment and home appliances, and signed a contract with the International Olympic Committee. At this Winter Olympics, the number of top Chinese sponsors is second only to that of the United States, the highest number in history.

Compared with some old faces at the Olympics, China’s TOP sponsors are fresh faces at the Olympics. Among some permanent sponsors, Coca-Cola sponsored the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and every subsequent Olympics. OMEGA has provided Olympic timers since 1932. Samsung and VISA joined the TOP program in 1998 and 1986 respectively. Procter & Gamble has been a member of the TOP sponsor camp for more than ten years. However, the replacement of old and new business forces in the Olympic arena is still becoming obvious.

If the TOP program is viewed as an arena for business power from companies in different regions, changes in the sponsor array reflect changes in business power to a certain extent.

After the 2024 Paris Olympics was held, the TOP sponsor array was in turmoil. Three Japanese sponsors Panasonic, Toyota, and Bridgestone and a French technology company withdrew from the TOP plan. Among them, Panasonic is a founding member of TOP and has been a TOP sponsor of the Olympic Games for 37 years. However, the company faced a decline in net profit in fiscal year 2024. In 2024, it withdrew from the TOP plan due to "evaluating sponsorship strategies to adapt to the business environment". Toyota Motor Corporation, which has been a TOP sponsor for 10 years, is also facing a decline in net profit in fiscal year 2024 and will withdraw from the TOP plan in 2024. With the withdrawal of three Japanese manufacturers, there are no longer Japanese companies among the TOP sponsors. Last year, Intel, which was once in trouble in the market competition, also decided not to renew the TOP plan. The collective withdrawal of many sponsors once caused concerns from the outside world.

However, with Anheuser-Busch InBev becoming a new TOP sponsor, and TCL replacing Panasonic to join the TOP program in February last year, the commercial power to support Olympic events has been enriched. Most sponsors have also stabilized. Among them, the cooperation agreements between Mengniu and Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Deloitte, OMEGA, VISA, TCL, and Allianz will last until 2032, and the cooperation agreements with Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Alibaba, and Airbnb will last until 2028.

While sponsors are changing from old to new, the industries and technologies represented by sponsors are also changing. While manufacturers of fuel vehicles, traditional home appliances, and CPUs are withdrawing from top Olympic sponsorship programs and undergoing business transformation, new technologies represented by AI and new display technologies are receiving more and more attention.

At the Olympic International Broadcasting Center in Milan, reporters saw that live footage was transmitted here and produced for various TV stations to choose to broadcast. According to Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) staff, AI and cloud technology are used in the broadcast and picture production of the Winter Olympics, and partners include Alibaba Cloud. The addition of new technology enables 360-degree playback of sports scenes and slice analysis of motion trajectories, which enhances the audience's viewing experience. In addition, connecting screen equipment has been placed in multiple venues for athletes to connect with family and friends in real time. The screens use TCL's low-temperature-resistant and high-definition panels.

Relevant manufacturers also use the Olympic platform to seek global business expansion. For example, Alibaba is seeking to expand its AI and cloud businesses and continues to deploy its cloud business overseas. TCL is also looking to the international market.

The country manager of TCL Italy told reporters that the market share of the company's TV products in Italy last year was about 12%, a year-on-year increase of about 50%, ranking fourth, and its share of the European TV market ranked third last year. The company's TV products in the European market mainly occupy the market share of Japanese and Korean brands. Among Japanese brands, Panasonic has considered the possibility of selling its TV business early last year. Chinese manufacturers represented by TCL are also using SQD MiniLED technology to seize the OLED TV market from brands such as LG.

The country manager told reporters that judging from the effects of sports marketing, the brand's awareness in Italy has improved, and its white goods business has recently been promoting cooperation with local distributors. However, when developing the Italian market, we need to consider the characteristics of the local market. On the one hand, the economic development gap between the north and the south of Italy is large. On the other hand, the local market channels are scattered and competition among channels is fierce, resulting in the market being in a price depression in the European market. Business strategies must be adjusted according to the characteristics of the local market.