At 17:28 on March 12, the first "Hualong One" nuclear power unit in the Yangtze River Delta region - Unit 1 of CGN's Zhejiang San'ao Nuclear Power Project was successfully connected to the grid for the first time and generated its first kWh of electricity, marking that the unit officially has the ability to input power to the grid.
Engineering construction has always been an important force in promoting social development and changing the world. From the completion of the Great Wall to the completion of the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, from the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Cross-Sea Bridge to the full-capacity grid-connected power generation of the largest single-capacity integrated photovoltaic and storage project in Xinjiang... From ancient times to the present, engineering management talents have always been involved in the construction and implementation of engineering projects.
Today, let’s take a closer look at the engineering management master’s degree that plays the role of “conductor” in engineering construction.
01
Multi-field applications
With the advent of the information age and the rapid development of high-tech industries, the application fields of engineering management are becoming larger and larger. It is not only common in the civil engineering and construction fields, but also widely used in petroleum, chemical industry, metallurgy, mining, electronics, communications, computers, software, biology, manufacturing, aerospace, national defense, finance, insurance and other industries.
With the increase in application fields, the previous rough mining management model of construction enterprises has been difficult to adapt to the needs of current social development. Any project requires more professional people to manage it scientifically and effectively, and the demand for engineering management professionals is also increasing day by day.
02
Application status in recent years
In order to better enable engineering construction to serve people's lives, there is an urgent need for high-level professional management talents. As the main force of basic research, universities have achieved "double improvement" in the quantity and quality of graduate student enrollment. The application situation for the Master of Engineering Management shows the following characteristics:
1. Rising interest in applications: As the popularity of the engineering management profession increases and market demand increases, it has attracted many working personnel and fresh graduates who want to further their studies in the field of engineering management. While the attraction continues to increase, the competition faced by candidates is also intensifying. For example, in 2023, the MEM application ratio for the School of Economics and Management of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications is 1027:131; the MEM application ratio for the School of Management Engineering and E-Commerce of Zhejiang Gongshang University is 826:76.
2. Increase in enrollment units: The number of colleges and universities offering MEM programs continues to increase. According to the 2024 master's degree catalog data from Yanzhao.com, a total of 210 enrollment units currently recruit master's degree students in engineering management. This reflects the increasing social recognition and educational demand for this professional degree.
3. The overall national score has increased: Compared with other popular management master's degrees, the national score for the engineering management master's degree has experienced a roller coaster change in the past five years. After increasing by 15 points in 2022, it dropped by 11 points in 2023, but the overall score shows an upward trend.
4. More suitable for working people: There are two ways to apply for the Master of Engineering Management: national joint examination and advance interview. Except for the industrial engineering and management and logistics engineering and management directions of some colleges and universities that can recruit fresh graduates, most require on-the-job personnel with workplace experience to apply, such as managers with engineering backgrounds (managers in the process of new product development, managers in the implementation of engineering construction projects, managers in technological innovation, transformation, transformation, and managers of industrial and technological development layout, etc.), or people in project management, technical management and other positions in the Internet, real estate, infrastructure, transportation and other industries.
5. Tuition fees are generally increasing: With the increase in the number of applicants and the increase in education costs, MEM tuition fees are also rising year by year. For example, Tsinghua University’s part-time MEM tuition for the class of 2021 is 168,000 yuan, and the tuition for the class of 2022 rises to 238,000 yuan; the tuition for Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s class of 2021 is 188,000 yuan, while the tuition for the class of 2022 rises to 238,000 yuan. This shows that the investment cost of MEM education is increasing, and it also reflects the continuous improvement of the market value of this major.
03
Colleges and universities cultivate diversity
Colleges and universities usually set up major management courses to cultivate students' understanding of core management field knowledge and help students establish corresponding management systems. In addition, each school will also vertically offer diversified courses closely related to MEM project practice based on its own characteristics and resources to meet market demand and achieve interdisciplinary and applicational subjects.
In line with the needs of current social development, some schools have opened AI artificial intelligence, big data and business analysis, finance, IT, big data and other directions. For example, the MEM project directions of the School of Software and Microelectronics of Peking University include: innovative engineering management, financial technology, business data analysis, and artificial intelligence. It has set up a modular curriculum system and mainly studies management modules (including innovation strategic management, new product management, Internet marketing, cross-cultural communication and management, innovation and entrepreneurship case analysis, etc.), technology Modules (including Python, R language, business data mining and analysis, algorithm analysis and design, financial information security, introduction to artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, etc.), financial modules (including investment management and Internet financial management, Internet financial practice, financial analysis, quantitative investment strategies and technologies, financial technology case analysis, etc.). The MEM course of the School of Engineering Management of Nanjing University offers elective courses in the fields of data governance and asset management, financial institutions and risk management, logistics and supply chain management, etc.
There are also schools that combine their own resources and industry characteristics and advantages to set up elective courses in different directions. For example, the School of Management Science and Engineering of Central University of Finance and Economics offers MEM courses related to financial characteristics such as real estate development and management, private equity and venture capital, options, futures and derivative securities. Shanghai Maritime University has established nine distinctive training directions, including logistics engineering management, port and shipping engineering management, and ship and ocean engineering management. The MEM energy specialty class of China University of Mining and Technology offers special energy courses: new energy and mining frontiers, carbon neutrality and energy storage technology, renewable energy and emission reduction technology, energy and environmental management, energy mining policy and law, etc.
In addition to diversified research directions and curriculum, some institutions are also international project management (IPMP) talent training bases, and students can apply for IPMP certification. Such as China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) and Shanghai Maritime University.
It can be seen that MEM's training courses are both theoretical and practical, and continue to cultivate compound high-end management talents for modern engineering careers, not just simple engineering.
04
Wide coverage of employment fields
Judging from the employment data provided by the admissions unit, MEM graduates have a wide range of employment fields. For example, the 2023 South China Normal University Master of Engineering Management (MEM) admissions brochure mentions the work background of its students, which are distributed in the power industry, heavy equipment manufacturing, the Internet industry, government public utilities and other fields.
It can be seen that MEM graduates, as comprehensive talents, can engage in various branch industries in addition to the traditional engineering management direction, mainly including the following:
Internet and IT direction: including software design and development, information communication engineering, chips, semiconductors, Internet+, e-commerce, etc.
Big data and artificial intelligence direction: including data collection/analysis/decision-making, artificial intelligence application, finance, technology, medical health, etc.
Civil engineering and water conservancy direction: including construction engineering, electric power engineering, water conservancy engineering, bridge construction, etc.
New energy and environment direction: including petroleum, new energy, materials, chemical industry, green environmental protection, carbon economy, etc.
Logistics and supply chain direction: including logistics engineering management, logistics technology, supply chain management, procurement, etc.
Industrial manufacturing direction: including automobile manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, machinery, machine tools, intelligent manufacturing, etc.
There are also military industry, aerospace, shipbuilding, life sciences, development/application of new products and new technologies, etc.
As Wang Yingluo, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of Xi'an Jiaotong University, said, "In decades of struggle, I have deeply realized that scientific management is the way to govern the country." Any undertaking is inseparable from excellent managers. It can be said that project managers are the builders of the soul of the project, and are artists who use technology and management art to shape the project.
05
Advice on preparing for exams
The editor interviewed MEM graduates from Tianjin University and East China Normal University to share their postgraduate entrance examination preparation experiences. They mentioned three key points that need to be paid attention to when taking the management joint examination:
1. Make an overall plan
Before starting to prepare for the exam, you must do a good job of collecting information, including understanding last year's score lines and admissions status of the target institution, checking the preliminary and re-examination details, and planning the entire postgraduate entrance exam preparation time. The MEM of some colleges and universities is recruited separately by the School of Engineering, School of Materials Science, etc., so you need to know in advance when applying.
2. Pay attention to interview details
Some admissions units will conduct interviews in advance, in the form of individual interviews and group interviews (only some colleges have group interviews). The comprehensive ability interview mainly tests the professional ability and comprehensive quality of the candidates. The details in the interview are good bonus points. In addition to being appropriately dressed and having a correct attitude, your logical thinking and expression skills will also be tested. In addition, during the interview, you can focus on talking about your work experience and current work situation.
3. Calm down and review
Candidates who are generally determined to apply for a master's degree in engineering management are mostly professionals who have been working for many years. If they enter a state of intense review and preparation, they are often easily interrupted by work and family chores, and their learning efficiency is not high. In the early stages of preparing for the exam, first calm yourself down and increase your concentration time, then formulate a study plan that suits you and focus on preparing for your weak areas.
Preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination is a systematic project that requires persistent efforts and correct methods. Make full use of online resources and library materials; conduct full-scale mock exams regularly to test learning effects and adapt to the exam rhythm. Analyze errors in mock exams, identify weak areas and improve them.
In the process of preparing for the management joint entrance exam, I am constantly gaining new growth. With the development of the economy and the acceleration of technological innovation, the demand for engineering management professionals will also continue to grow. Students who are interested in applying for MEM can continue to pay attention to the latest information released by the institution and prepare for the exam!
Zheng Hui: During this year’s two sessions, we paid special attention to the policy orientation of “expanding new space for domestic demand growth”, which pointed out a clear development direction for functional skin care products, an industry that is closely related to people’s lives.
This first brings us valuable new opportunities for growth. Consumer demand is upgrading from purchasing a single product to pursuing overall solutions including skin health management. This gives us the opportunity to extend from the past one-time transaction model of "selling products" to providing long-term, professional skin health services, especially in the field of segmented needs.
This is not only an expansion of market scale, but also a key opportunity for us to transform from a "product manufacturer" to a "skin health solution provider". At the same time, the upsurge in domestic product consumption such as "Buy in China" has also provided a broader development stage for local brands like ours.
Of course, opportunities also come with new and higher requirements. Whether we can keep up with and lead this change in demand is a comprehensive test of our innovation and service capabilities. This requires us to use "new quality productivity" as the engine and use cutting-edge technology to create more professional, safer and more effective high-quality products. At the same time, it also requires us to quickly build matching professional service capabilities to truly satisfy consumers’ deep yearning for a better life and healthy skin.
Reporter: This year’s government work report proposed “developing new productive forces in accordance with local conditions” and “deepening the expansion of ‘artificial intelligence +’”. In your opinion, how should the industry use intelligent tools to reshape the value of the entire chain of R&D, production and services?
Zheng Hui: Regarding "new productivity" and "artificial intelligence +", we have a profound understanding of it in the past two years of practice and have also carried out a lot of exploration.
The first is to realize the transformation from the past "experiment trial and error" model to the "intelligent prediction" model in the research and development process. Using intelligent tools to build a "data + knowledge" R&D model, integrating clinical dermatology research results and user feedback data, it can significantly improve R&D efficiency and accuracy in terms of new raw material screening, potential exploration of classic ingredients, and formula optimization.
The second step is to promote the upgrade of supervision from "product supervision" to "whole-process supervision" in the production process. The cosmetics industry has high requirements for quality and safety. It uses intelligent production systems to monitor and analyze key parameters in real time, transforming the product quality assurance model from post-inspection to full-process control.
In addition, in terms of service value, we are also exploring an upgrade from "delivering products" to "delivering solutions". Through data insights and technical means, it provides users with more personalized skin health management suggestions and realizes the transformation from single product sales to a "product + continuous service" model.
In 2026, CCTV's "March 15" party was launched, with the theme of "Consuming with Confidence and Quality Life", exposing illegal behaviors that infringe on consumer rights in the fields of food safety, public safety, financial security, advertising market and other fields.
According to the investigation, the chaos in Chengdu Mingyang Food Workshop, which is the pre-processing point for Shufu Xiang Food Chicken Feet, is shocking. The brewing area and trimming area in the workshop are filled with odor, and the pungent fishy smell goes straight into the nose. Muddy sewage has been accumulated on the ground for a long time. Plastic baskets are piled up in a mess. The machinery and equipment are heavily stained and oily. A large number of exposed chicken feet were piled directly on the wet and dirty ground. Cleaning tools such as brooms and shovels were pressed on the ingredients at will. Even if the chicken feet were stepped on by workers, they were just picked up and put back into the processing basket for further use, ignoring the bottom line of food hygiene throughout the process. What’s even more outrageous is that reporters can easily enter the production line without applying for health certificates, physical examinations, and disinfection, and food safety protection is in vain.
Messy ingredients are transformed into white and attractive internet-famous chicken feet, all thanks to a prohibited "bleaching" process. Company staff bluntly stated that the whitening of chicken feet depends entirely on soaking in hydrogen peroxide. Chongqing Zengqiao Food directly uses hydrogen peroxide with a content of up to 35%, which is industrial hydrogen peroxide, to "whiten" chicken feet. According to national regulations, hydrogen peroxide is strictly prohibited from being used in the processing of chicken feet. This strong oxidant will destroy the protein of food ingredients. Long-term consumption will damage the oral mucosa, liver and kidney function, and excessive intake can be life-threatening. The worker involved said frankly that he would never eat chicken feet soaked in hydrogen peroxide, and even advised reporters not to eat them, knowing full well that they are poisonous.
Chongqing Zengqiao Food Co., Ltd. also discovered the use of hydrogen peroxide. The investigators applied to join the company as ordinary workers and successfully entered the production line of this company without health certificates, physical examinations, and disinfection. During the investigation, company insiders personally confirmed that the chicken feet here are bleached with hydrogen peroxide.
The "fair appearance" of Internet celebrity chicken feet is actually an illusion caused by the accumulation of banned chemicals, and the dirty production environment is even more disgusting. Food companies should keep the bottom line of safety and not abandon their conscience and responsibility for temporary gains. Respecting the rules and respecting consumers is the way to operate in the long run.
Jimu News reporter Bi Ruoxue and Chen Yangyang
An "AI Overlord" video can be produced in 5 minutes, and dozens of accounts can push it simultaneously to guide consumers to place orders. Can practitioners earn several thousand yuan in a single day?
A large number of "AI digital human videos" are disseminated on major short video platforms. Many middle-aged and elderly women mistakenly believe that there is a mature man on the other side of the screen who can accompany them day and night and care for them tenderly. They actively consume for them and purchase various commodities or virtual products.
Recently, many elderly female family members told Jimu News reporters that they only found out after picking up their mobile phones that their short video accounts had been occupied by various "AI bosses".
Jimu News reporter’s investigation found that these so-called “AI overlords” are actually AI digital humans. The digital people in the videos are often found in living rooms and offices, showing elegant and affectionate images. Related videos are also labeled with labels such as "middle-aged and elderly people" and "happy life of the elderly" and are accurately pushed to middle-aged and elderly women who lack emotional companionship. These "AI bosses" who keep a close eye on the elderly have many hidden traps such as profiteering and fraud.
An 84-year-old grandmother wrote a love letter to an AI digital human and spent nearly 10,000 yuan to marry him
"Jianguo, Happy Spring Festival! First of all, I want to apologize to you. I hurt you that day. In fact, I am also blaming myself. Do you hate me very much?" On the eve of the Spring Festival, 84-year-old Zhang Yulan wrote a 500-word love letter to express her affection to "Jianguo".
The recipient of the letter, "Jianguo", is not a real person, but an AI digital person. "Jianguo" often looks like a suit and has a slicked back hair, and often uses warm words such as "dear sister" when speaking. He focuses on emotional care by asking for help, and also shares so-called life wisdom to win the favor and trust of middle-aged and elderly women.
On March 8, Zhang Yulan’s granddaughter Wang Ting told a Jimu News reporter that her grandma had been obsessed with the “AI Overlord” for some time. As early as 2016, 74-year-old Zhang Yulan started using a smartphone, and at that time she only learned the most basic operations. The family discovered the anomaly in October last year when Zhang Yulan began to frequently buy pendants from the display window associated with the AI digital human video. These pendants, which often cost several hundred yuan, were sold on Taobao for only 9.9 yuan.
"At first, my family didn't take it seriously, thinking that grandma was just posting short videos for fun. Unexpectedly, she fell in love with this AI digital person and even considered marrying him." Wang Ting said that even though her family repeatedly told her that it was a scam, the old man only woke up briefly and soon became addicted again. Sometimes she would secretly watch relevant videos behind her family's back, for fear of being discovered, and even opened her own public account to send messages to "Jianguo".
An 84-year-old grandma’s handwritten love letter to the digital man “Jianguo”
Over the past few months, Zhang Yulan has spent nearly ten hours a day watching videos related to AI digital humans, rewarding tragic tweets featuring AI digital humans, and purchased a lot of high-priced and low-quality goods. She has spent a total of seven to eight thousand yuan. Whether it is the AI overlord "Jianguo" or the voice of "Jianguo" used in the AI copywriting video, Zhang Yulan will think that it is "Jianguo" talking to her. Previously, an account that released AI digital human videos added Zhang Yulan's WeChat account and dragged her into a group chat to send unknown links. Wang Ting closed all the application channels for adding friends on her grandma's WeChat account, leaving her to take the initiative to send messages to others. However, Zhang Yulan often takes the initiative to add corporate WeChat accounts associated with digital people, and also sends messages and initiates video call requests to the other party, even if the other party never responds.
Screenshot of Zhang Yulan purchasing products
On March 11, Zhang Yulan spent another 1,227 yuan to buy books "recommended" by AI videos. This time, Wang Ting decided that she could no longer let it go, so she complained to the merchants associated with the video account to the 12315 platform. At present, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shuyang County, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, where the merchant is located, has accepted the matter.
Even so, Zhang Yulan still insists on spending money for AI digital people.
Screenshot of Zhang Yulan’s reward tweet
Behind this emotional hunting trap targeting middle-aged and elderly women, many "Zhang Yulan" are deeply involved. 82-year-old Wang Ping from Inner Mongolia is one of them. She also fell in love with the AI digital human "Jianguo".
Wang Ping's grandson Jia Qing told Jimu News that after his grandfather passed away, his grandma lived alone for several years and was very lonely on weekdays. "Last year, my mother retired and stayed with my grandma full-time, but the situation has not improved at all. Grandma still watches these non-nutritious AI videos from morning to night, and the mood of the family has also been affected."
In early 2024, in order to prevent Wang Ping from continuing to view such short videos, her family changed her mobile phone and re-registered a WeChat account. When checking her old WeChat account, her family discovered her chat and transfer records with related accounts, and then learned that Wang Ping had indeed transferred money to the other party. She had spent thousands of yuan on transfers, rewards, and shopping. She had also disclosed her phone number and home address to scammers.
"Grandma will mistakenly think that people on the Internet are giving her money to marry her and take her to live a wealthy life in a big city." Jia Qing said that her family has consulted the police and learned that the money defrauded is difficult to recover, and due to the particularity of short videos and the Internet, the most relevant departments can do is ban the accounts of the scammers involved. However, this type of scammers still emerge in endlessly, and to this day, grandma is still watching digital videos of people.
Practitioners revealed the inside story: It takes five minutes to generate a video, and one account can take up to five days.
In February 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China launched the "Operation Clearance", and rectifying the abuse of AI technology was included as one of the eight key tasks. Starting from late February, major short video platforms have shut down accounts related to "Jianguo". However, even if "Jianguo" is banned, various AI tyrants with similar styles still emerge in endlessly. "Jianjun" and "Guohua Brother" all use the banner of warmth and care to specifically target middle-aged and elderly women to carry out emotional hunting.
Screenshot of AI Overlord’s live broadcast
Judging from the image, this type of digital person has become a style: combing their hair sideways, wearing formal clothes, and calling each other "sister". A blogger who is affectionately called "Haidi" by his aunts has 77,000 fans and broadcasts live for several hours every day. His live broadcast room only displays a photo of a man wearing a red short-sleeved shirt and holding a microphone. On the photo is the text "Welcome sister to listen to brother sing, thank sister for liking brother." Many people in the live broadcast room send gifts and even leave messages: "I love you, don't you know you love me?"
In the daily videos posted by this blogger, there are often words such as "Sister, many people have bought things from my brother's store before and found them useful. Sister, click on the little yellow cart in the lower left corner and buy some things to support my brother." Many middle-aged and elderly women will reply in the comment area: "Support, support."
"The middle-aged and elderly people are really interesting. They can be used to make data and are obedient. Reading their private messages, I even find them a bit cute." This is what Amin, a "veteran" in the AI digital human industry, wrote in his circle of friends. The image of AI digital humans he created has led many middle-aged and elderly people into traps.
Recently, a reporter from Jimu News contacted Amin as a student. He talked freely to the reporter about the inside story of AI digital people bringing goods. "If you want to be an AI digital person, you must be mentally prepared for violations. It is not a particularly long-term track." According to Amin, the most important thing for an AI digital person to bring goods is "being able to accept violations." As long as the process is followed, it is impossible to fail to bring goods.
The so-called "process" in Amin's mouth is actually to use software to produce short AI videos, and then publish them on multiple social platforms. After that, the products are put on the display window, and naturally there will be sinking users to place orders. As for issues such as product quality, after-sales service, and violations determined by the platform, Amin said calmly: "Don't worry about these. You just sell, sell today, and pay tomorrow." The general forms of monetization are rewards and goods.
Subsequently, the reporter received a case account from Amin. The homepage of the account shows that among the 18 AI digital human short videos that have been released, the protagonists are all "Auntie's favorite Haihai". Most of the content is about Haihai expressing her feelings to the aunts, and her words are full of care and praise for the aunts. Although most of the videos are marked with virtual content, please watch them rationally, there are still a large number of users leaving messages and expressing concern for Haihai.
Screenshot of the operating account
After posting multiple videos one after another and attracting some fans, the account began to try to bring goods when it posted the 9th video. In the video, Haihai introduces a footbath bag to the aunties, hoping that everyone will buy it. As a result, many aunties placed orders with a supportive attitude.
According to Amin, there are many similar cases, and this is just what a new student did recently. Amin’s circle of friends also shared many “successful” student deeds. "If you do it well, you can make thousands of dollars a day without a problem." A Ming said that 50% of the product sales are commissions. For example, if you sell a product for 60 yuan, 30 yuan will belong to the students. As long as the traffic is sufficient, everyone will be motivated to do it.
Of course, to become a student, there will be a certain threshold - pay money. When the reporter talked about how to learn how to use AI digital people to bring goods, Amin said that "it will cost more", 998 yuan per person, including how to make videos, operate accounts, and connect with suppliers to achieve monetization.
According to A Ming, these suppliers are all large manufacturers with profits of tens of millions of yuan. They have been working together stably for many years. Students only need to contact the suppliers later, and the other party will directly pay the money after checking the sales volume in their account. There is no middleman to make the difference. However, A Ming also mentioned that it is indeed illegal to use this kind of account to bring goods on multiple platforms, and the account is often blocked. Therefore, students need to bring goods on multiple platforms, change accounts back and forth, or log out and restart.
Huang Xing, who has also been in the industry for several years, also admitted to reporters that he mainly sells videos on the emotional track for middle-aged and elderly people. He has hundreds of students under his command. He is deeply involved in the creation of digital characters such as "Jianguo" and "Xiaohai". "We generally operate dozens of video accounts, and these accounts are 100% illegal. One account can last up to five days. The core is to earn commissions by bringing goods through the video account. We can earn at least 2,000 yuan a day." Huang Xing said that it only takes 5 minutes to generate a digital human video, and each video cannot be repeated. Dozens of accounts will be continuously updated. Nowadays, he no longer uses digital human images, because such forms are prone to violations. Instead, he directly uses the voices of "Jianguo" and "Xiaohai" that were familiar to middle-aged and elderly women, paired with AI-generated order guidance copywriting.
When the reporter bluntly said, "Isn't this just deceiving the elderly and using their emotional value to make money from them," the other party said, "That's okay to understand." The reporter continued to ask, “Are all the products being sold inferior?” He replied, “It won’t kill anyone anyway.”
Some dating agencies use AI digital people to attract people for a fee, and some people were defrauded out of 1,000 yuan.
During the investigation, the reporter also found that in addition to conventional live broadcasts, goods delivery and other forms, many dating agencies have used "AI overlords" digital people to confuse users. On a certain social platform, after a reporter followed the accounts of several "AI bosses", he immediately received link cards from them in private messages, prompting "Click on the card to add to send men's information."
Subsequently, the reporter, as a middle-aged and elderly woman, followed the link card prompts to add the corporate WeChat account of a dating service company in Sichuan, and asked the other party to obtain the contact information of the "AI boss" in the video, but the other party said that "we need to call to discuss the specific charging standards." A staff member of a dating service company in Chongqing also claimed that these digital people are "real" and if you want to obtain their contact information, you need to pay 4,999 yuan first.
Screenshot of chat between reporter and dating agency
On March 10, the reporter sent a private message on the video platform to an account called "Xiyoujia-Paixingfu" as a blind date, and the other party immediately sent a corporate WeChat business card. After the reporter added it, he asked the other party if he had the contact information of the "AI rich woman", and the other party directly asked for a video chat. After the reporter declined for inconvenient reasons, the other party never responded to the message. On the 11th, reporters found on the platform that the account of "Xiyoujia-Paixingfu" had been banned.
Chen Zhen from Guangxi told Jimu News that his mother Li Xiaohua was defrauded of 1,000 yuan by a dating agency in Guizhou. The social account provided by Chen Zhen shows that the dating agency often publishes photos of digital people, along with relevant personal information. After Li Xiaohua added the other party's WeChat account as required, the other party said he could introduce someone to him, and then guided him to transfer money. After Li Xiaohua transferred 1,000 yuan, the other party kept delaying on the grounds of organizing information.
Screenshot of Li Xiaohua transferring money to a dating agency
"The videos they posted were just made of AI digital people and posted some disgusting words to attract traffic." Chen Zhen said that after the transfer, the other party's reply was basically "a staff member will reply the next day" and no specific blind date services were ever provided. "My mother was too embarrassed to call the police, so she just spent money to buy a lesson."
Later, the reporter added a staff member of the dating company, who said, "These are advertisements. Please ask the business department for details. The person in the photo may be a hired model." When the reporter insisted on going on a blind date with the person in the photo, the person admitted frankly that the person in the photo was an AI digital person used to attract traffic. He could not introduce it, but could only introduce other people.
On March 11, the reporter contacted the boss of this dating company as a colleague. He said that his company only uses digital people to attract traffic. He also said that there is chaos in some peers in the dating industry. Some organizations use AI digital people or find models to pretend to be real people, falsely claiming to be real blind dates to customers, charging membership fees of up to 10,000 yuan, and then only arranging personnel to chat with customers briefly, and then ending the docking on the grounds that they are not suitable for each other.
The hunting of AI digital humans touches multiple legal red lines, and emotional care and institutional constraints are indispensable.
There are actually deeper social and legal issues behind AI digital humans’ hunting down of middle-aged and elderly people.
Lawyer Ma Junzhe from Guangdong Zheqing Law Firm told Jimu News that from the perspective of legal characterization and regulatory governance, the use of AI digital humans to hunt the elderly has touched multiple legal red lines, and there are clear regulatory bases and improvement directions. From a legal perspective, if this type of behavior is for the purpose of illegal possession, defrauding money through fictitious identities, emotional induction, etc., it fully meets the constituent elements of the crime of fraud. At the same time, because it is carried out with the help of network communication tools for an unspecified majority of people, it is a typical telecommunications network fraud.
"According to the judicial interpretation, the amount of fraud reaching more than 3,000 to 10,000 yuan meets the standard for criminal filing. Even if the amount is slightly lower, because it targets the special group of the elderly, serious cases may still be filed for investigation. The batch production and operation of AI digital human accounts form a complete chain of 'technology development - attracting customers - committing fraud - realizing funds'. It has formed an organized black and gray industrial chain with a clear division of labor, and is the focus of the entire chain of crackdowns by judicial authorities." Ma Junzhe's Law Experts believe that all relevant parties must bear corresponding legal responsibilities: if a digital human technology provider provides support knowing that others are using it for fraud, it may constitute an accomplice in fraud or assisting information network criminal activities; the operator, as the core subject, will be held criminally responsible for fraud, and the organizer and habitual offenders will be severely punished in accordance with the law; the live broadcast platform must bear fault liability if it fails to perform its audit obligations; if the matchmaking agency participates in false propaganda and decoy transfers, it will face multiple criminal, civil and administrative responsibilities.
Chen Yu, director of the Scientific Research Office of the Aging Research Base of Wuhan University, believes that the middle-aged and elderly people who are deceived by AI digital people should look at it from multiple dimensions. The first is the vulnerability of the elderly themselves, which includes both the physical health level and the psychological cognitive level. The digital people lack the ability to identify counterfeiting. Secondly, from the level of needs, the elderly will have needs for warmth, respect, and love. The existence of these needs may objectively allow some illegal activities to take advantage of the loopholes. Finally, the elderly have relatively rigid social experience. They may think that it is difficult to fake photos and videos. Such existing experience and judgment may affect their vigilance and self-defense awareness against emerging forms of fraud such as digital fraud.
Shi Renbing, a professor at the School of Sociology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, added that some people with bad intentions are taking advantage of the psychological and emotional "needs" of the elderly to defraud, using AI anthropomorphic technology as a tool to defraud. When the elderly have limited knowledge of new technologies and society has not kept up with the legal crackdown on related behaviors, this type of scam will become popular.
Regarding response measures, Chen Yu said that the core of relevant governance work should be to bridge the gap between the development of digital intelligence and elderly life. First, we can use the power of the community to open interest training classes or smartphone teaching classes in the community to teach the elderly how to identify digital people, so as to form independent prevention awareness; second, as children, relatives and friends, we should tell the elderly not to pay easily when it comes to money, but also to trust them to gradually develop awareness of AI digital people, and remember not to criticize the elderly. Encourage them to be more exposed to new things such as AI, and inform them of the risks involved, and build the frontline of the elderly's prevention awareness through family information flow. In addition, legislation, platforms, policies and other aspects should work together to combat AI fraud, and platforms should also strengthen supervision. Especially for middle-aged and elderly users when watching videos, some risk warnings can be appropriately added to jointly build a comprehensive prevention system.
(Except for Ma Junzhe, Chen Yu and Shi Renbing, all names in the article are pseudonyms)
NetEase Technology News In the early morning of March 24, Zhu Hong, co-founder and vice president of Douguo Food, posted a message in his circle of friends to explain in detail his "resignation". In Zhu Hong's circle of friends, it can be found that since March 19, 2016, the contents of his circle of friends are mostly "lawyer", "resignation", "labor law" and other related words.
Zhu Hong, vice president of Douguo Food, was responsible for market operations in the IT system integration and traditional education and training industries before 2005. In 2005, he entered the Internet from traditional industries. Because of her unwavering passion for food, she finally decided to give up her stable and worry-free job and income to become a partner of Douguo Food and start her own business. She said, "Only by choosing your own interests to start a business can you maintain your endless passion."
The following is the original content of Zhu Hong’s circle of friends:
The weekend started because the content in my circle of friends caused trouble to everyone. Many friends sent me private messages to express concern and ask me what happened. Yes, some things did happen that I am embarrassed to talk about. Based on my principles of dealing with things, I am not willing to let the "family scandal" spread.
People here who know me well have witnessed my night flights home every time, running offline activities all over the country on weekends all year round, and the scene where I fell into a waist-deep ice hole in the middle of the night when setting up the site for the Douguo Annual Food Festival in the late winter of the year before last. During the process of starting a business, I had a heart attack caused by excessive fatigue and had to undergo surgery for lumbar disc herniation... I have invested too much effort and emotion into this company.
It is precisely because of this that I have been resisting the pressure from my family and did not consider pregnancy. I always wanted to wait until Douguo was on the right track. This delayed until I was 38 years old and became a high-risk mother. But I never expected that as an elderly mother, I would be hit hard.
At the end of last year, due to some differences in business and management concepts with the founder (CEO), the board of directors also agreed to draft a priority withdrawal agreement for me, allowing me to give priority to the transfer of shares within the next year and a half. However, this agreement was not signed before the Spring Festival. I was more than a month pregnant at the time and was experiencing severe morning sickness when I suddenly received a request from the CEO to let me leave on the grounds that the agreement had been completed. To be honest, I was in shock while I was in bed recuperating. Because I never thought that such a workplace experience would happen to me, and it was during my pregnancy.
After I pointed out that pregnant women are protected by labor laws during pregnancy and lactation, and cannot unilaterally terminate the labor contract, the CEO only proposed to terminate the labor relationship at a one-time salary of 4 months, saying that this was already based on our cooperation for many years... He warned me that if I continued to stay, my salary would be reduced to a very low level, and the company would win the labor court case.
As a co-founder, I really didn’t want to cause such a big fuss, and I didn’t want to damage the company’s reputation. However, after that, I tried to communicate with the CEO many times, but all I got was evasion and avoidance. On March 10, the company stopped paying my salary for February, and I did not receive any form of notification or confirmation. It is said that the CEO only verbally informed HR to implement it. I asked the CEO about it on March 10, but he didn't respond. After that, the company's HR set up a WeChat group and gave me the contact information of the company's attorney.
Last Friday, my lawyer and I met with Lawyer Wang, who was entrusted by the company. Lawyer Wang said that he was only entrusted to meet with me, and he was not authorized and could only be responsible for passing on messages. I made it clear at the time: Douguo is like the child I have raised with all my heart, and I hope everything goes well for the company. If for the long-term interests of the company, everyone sits down and is willing to reconcile, I will accept it, but the premise is that the company must first stop the illegal behavior of suspending salary during pregnancy, and then everything can be discussed.
However, things changed drastically after that.
On the day after the meeting, the company sent a group email overnight to introduce new attendance rules, requiring "all employees, including deputy directors and above, to punch in with their fingerprints." The previous attendance system implemented by the company stipulated that "7. The following employees do not need to clock in and clock in: company director level and above (unregular working hours, no overtime pay)."
So after work on Monday, I asked HR to take my fingerprints, but was refused because the CEO did not authorize her to take my fingerprints.
It was clear that the CEO was trying to use absenteeism to get evidence in arbitration.
According to the lawyer's advice, when the company clearly intended to create evidence of my absence from work, I had to take photos and videos to retain evidence of my attendance. I also needed to locate my location, so I had to check in on Moments as a last resort.
This is a complete farce. As a senior executive, I even feel very embarrassed. I don’t know what all these forced rights protection actions will bring. The worst result is just as my friend kindly “reminded” me, which will affect my image in this circle in the future. Indeed, it is difficult for me to tell the whole truth. After all, I am still worried about Douguo's future and cannot tell more truth.
Wang Yuxiang, until now I hope to communicate directly with you. If there are problems, I can solve them. I can even give in to the relationship of many years of cooperation. Please show the attitude and problem-solving methods that a founder should have.
The world of digital currency is always not peaceful, and now the fire has burned to the "currency central mother" Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The grudges between him and "China's richest man" Zhao Changpeng are related to the life and death of FTX.
On November 2, a report on Alameda Research was leaked, implying that Alamada would fall into a bankruptcy crisis and FTT would fall into a liquidity crisis. SBF could not sit still and came out to clarify in a high-profile manner that everything was normal. However, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) immediately issued a statement saying that he was worried about the recurrence of Luna’s “death spiral” and would sell off all FTT on the book.
At this time, Alameda jumped out and said that as long as Binance sells, they will buy it at the market price of $22 per coin that day. The war of words on Twitter is about to break out, and the war between Binance and FTX has entered a fever pitch.
The market is beginning to think. There are currently about 60 million FTTs circulating in the market. If Binance throws more than 23 million FTTs directly to the market at this time, how will Alameda respond? Will FTT’s market value return to zero? As of November 8, FTT has fallen from the previous $25.9 to $17.97, a drop of more than 30%.
The beginning and end of the story
On November 2, the cryptocurrency news website CoinDesk disclosed the business relationship between the hedge fund Alameda Research and the FTX cryptocurrency trading platform successively founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The market’s concerns about Alameda’s operating conditions and the liquidity of the FTX platform’s digital token FTT emerged vividly, adding fuel to the already uneven currency circle.
Coindesk's report stated that in Alameda's balance sheet, FTT is its largest single asset, holding approximately 140 million coins. FTT-related assets are US$5.8 billion, accounting for 88% of its net assets. At the same time, 140 million coins account for 70% of FTT's 200 million coins in circulation. The news instantly detonated the currency circle.
He Yi, the co-founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, which has had many "love-hate disputes" with FTX, insinuated FTX's operations on November 5, saying:
Binance does not give unsecured loans, does not participate in transactions, does not blindly buy companies, and does not spend blindly on sponsorships. 20% of FTX's equity has been sold.
On November 6, Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison finally responded on Twitter, stating that the balance sheet disclosed by CoinDesk was only a portion of the company’s assets, and that more than $10 billion in assets were not reflected, and said that most of the loans had been repaid. She said:
Given the tightening of the crypto credit space this year, we have now returned the majority of our loans and we obviously have portions that were not disclosed by Coindesk.
On November 6, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted that he was worried that FTT would suffer an instant collapse like Luna, and would sell off all FTT on the books in the next few months. The 23 million FTT previously transferred to the Binance account was only part of what was obtained after withdrawing from FTX equity.
After hearing what CZ said, Alameda couldn't sit still and immediately expressed his willingness to spend 22 US dollars per coin to buy all the FTT that Binance wanted to sell. However, many people expressed doubts about whether FTX could really spend 580 million US dollars to repurchase the tokens. The war between FTX and Binance has entered a fever pitch.
Is Alameda on the brink of bankruptcy?
As the friction between the two sides intensifies and the war of words heats up, will Alameda go bankrupt? It has also become a hot topic in the market.
According to a CoinDesk report, as of June 30, Alameda Research had $14.6 billion on its balance sheet, of which FTT accounted for the largest share at $5.8 billion, accounting for 88% of its net assets. On the liability side, Alameda Research has $8 billion in liabilities, including $2.2 billion worth of loans guaranteed by FTT.
This, coupled with the company’s alleged exposure to illiquid altcoins, prompted some analysts to predict future bankruptcy.
Mike Burgersburg, an independent market analyst at Dirty Bubble Media Substack, said Alameda will never be able to repay its debt by cashing out the majority of its FTTs, stating:
There are few buyers, and the largest buyers appear to be the companies most closely associated with Alameda, whose market value will quickly approach $0 in the event of a massive sell-off of FTT.
Although Caroline Ellison responded that more than 10 billion US dollars in assets were not reflected and said that most of the loans had been repaid, some analysts pointed out that Ellison’s simple reply did not respond to related transactions and capital transactions with FTX, which was difficult to dispel external doubts.
However, as the encryption industry has developed to this day, some analysts have pointed out that both Binance and FTX have developed into a situation of "too big to fail". The analysis said:
CZ and SBF have also become very important leaders in the encryption industry. But no matter how we quarrel, there are only eternal interests. We believe that the encryption industry will continue to move forward driven by the common interests of all parties.
Will FTT fall into a death spiral like Luna?
With the revelation of the balance sheet on November 3, FTT has plummeted by more than 30%, and concerns that it may fall into a "death spiral" like Luna are gradually spreading.
Terra (Token Luna) is a public chain ecosystem built around stablecoins. Luna's goals include two points: on the one hand, promoting the prosperity of the Terra public chain, and on the other hand, promoting the large-scale adoption of its stablecoins represented by UST.
Therefore, Luna is essentially an invisible collateral for stable coins such as UST. Terra stipulates in the system that UST is minted by destroying Luna. When UST is higher than 1 US dollar, Luna will be destroyed to create UST, thereby accelerating the supply of UST to reduce the currency price. When UST is lower than 1 US dollar, UST will be destroyed to generate LUNA, which stabilizes the currency price by reducing the flow of UST.
On May 9th and 10th, UST experienced a serious de-anchoring incident due to capital hunting and debt crisis. Do Know, the founder of Terra, said that he had enough assets to absorb the decline in UST's exchange rate. However, the market soon discovered that UST's exchange rate continued to decline, falling as low as $0.6.
When UST's currency value fell and was sold off heavily, a large amount of Luna supply was created instantly. In the sluggish atmosphere of the currency market itself, a "death spiral" of LUNA/UST was created. It is known as the first large-scale "Thai Baht + Lehman" incident in the history of encryption development.
Therefore, some people believe that if CZ continues to liquidate more FTT tokens, it will force Alameda's FTT loans to be sold as collateral on a large scale, and the FTX trading platform will close FTT trading to avoid any losses that will occur in exchange for stablecoins and altcoins. If this happens, this will cause a sell-off of FTT in the entire crypto market, which will undoubtedly lead to a death spiral.
Additionally, a scan of the blockchain confirmed that FTT ownership is highly concentrated, with 10 addresses holding 93% of the tokens. According to blockchain analytics company Messari, only about 180-200 addresses are actively trading in FTT tokens. This further indicates that the number of individual FTT holders is very small, and the overall demand for the token is low.
FTT’s trading volume also further points to its lack of popularity. According to Messari data, in October, FTT's daily trading volume ranged from US$6 million to US$42 million, equivalent to 0.1% - 0.8% of Alameda's total holdings in FTT. The actual trading volume of LINK ranges from US$25 million to US$173 million, which is approximately four times that of FTT.
Clara Medalie, head of research at analytics firm Kaiko, said FTT is a relatively illiquid token on the open market, saying:
Overall, in my opinion, FTT is less liquid on the open market, so Binance’s plan to liquidate all of its holdings of FTT tokens is a fairly significant market event.
Media previously reported that FTX had admitted that it was an active buyer of FTT tokens and claimed that it spent 33% of the fees generated by the FTX market to purchase FTT every week.
According to CoinMarketCap, Solana, ChainLink, and BNB prices have all turned bearish due to the FTT sell-off.
Nonetheless, independent market analyst Satoshi Flipper believes FTT prices may rebound in the future, with the current decline signaling a retest of long-term support ranges.
How FTX quickly became an “Internet celebrity” in the currency circle
Media information shows that before founding the FTX exchange, SBF worked at Jane Street, a quantitative trading company on Wall Street.
In 2017, Bitcoin skyrocketed from US$2,500 to nearly US$20,000 in six months. The 25-year-old SBF sensed an opportunity and resolutely quit his high-paying job on Wall Street, founded Alameda Research, a crypto quantitative trading company, and began a life of profit-seeking in the cryptocurrency industry.
Regarding the reasons for entering the digital currency market, SBF is also blunt:
When I entered the cryptocurrency space, I had no idea what cryptocurrencies were. I just feel like there are a lot of good trading opportunities out there.
In an interview with the media, SBF said that its first pot of gold came from Bitcoin arbitrage in the US and Japanese markets. At its peak, it could earn as much as 25 million US dollars per day through arbitrage. After continuous accumulation of capital, SBF established FTX in May 2019.
Unlike Coinbase and other platforms for novices to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, FTX is known for providing complex derivatives. Under the digital currency trend, FTX has grown from a small cryptocurrency exchange to a leading company in the crypto industry in just a few years. Daily trading volume has climbed from $50 million in 2019 to $2 billion currently.
In addition to innovative products, low transaction fees, and a large number of currency options on its platform, gaining market share through acquisitions is also a strategy that FTX has been adopting. Previous analysis pointed out that SBF is taking advantage of the chaos in the cryptocurrency market to expand his empire, and has so far completed the acquisition of troubled Japanese exchanges Liquid, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital.
After gaining market share, FTX needs to further gain its compliance in the cryptocurrency market, and to do this it needs to expand its political influence step by step.
According to media reports, SBF spent nearly $40 million to support the Democratic Party in this midterm election and has become one of the largest donors to both parties.
Previously, according to data from Open Secrets, SBF contributed a total of $39.8 million in the 2021-2022 cycle, making it the sixth largest political contributor.
During the 2020 presidential election, SBF donated approximately $5.2 million to President Joe Biden's campaign.
SBF has said in interviews that he plans to spend up to $1 billion to help the 2024 presidential campaign.
Yang Mindao, founder of dForce, analyzed that although Binance has ten times the users and profits of FTX, FTX’s political influence in the United States is far more than ten times that of Binance. He said:
The difference between Binance and FTX in terms of strategic routes: Binance takes the Mainstreet route, where users are fully leveraged and do whatever is needed. FTX, on the other hand, is an elite route started by a group of professional traders, and in the later period, political leverage was added (K Street). SBF once satirized CZ on this, alluding to 'I can enter and exit Washington, D.C. at will, can CZ? '
The love-hate relationship between FTX and Binance
Some analysts believe that Binance can successfully use FTX's political influence and compliance in the U.S. cryptocurrency market to promote its development in the U.S. currency circle. A conflict will not be beneficial to either.
Last year, Binance announced its withdrawal from FTX. “After the divorce,” the relationship between the two parties began to take a turn for the worse.
On December 20, 2019, less than half a year after FTX was launched, Binance announced a strategic investment of US$1 billion in FTX. Binance stated that in addition to its equity investment in FTX, it will also hold FTT for the long term to help the sustainable development of the FTX ecosystem and keep it abreast of the development of the Binance ecosystem.
At that time, the derivatives market was firmly dominated by BitMex and OKEx, and Binance, which started with altcoins, had just launched its contract business. Binance hopes to expand its ecological layout by investing in FTX and help it catch up from behind in the derivatives market. The two parties also spent a harmonious honeymoon period at this time. FTX has also lived up to Binance’s expectations and shined in derivatives products and innovation.
One year after investing in Binance, SBF revealed that FTX’s latest valuation has reached US$3.5 billion. In just one and a half years, the valuation has increased from US$100 million to US$3.5 billion.
By July 2021, FTX completed a US$900 million Series B financing with US$18 billion. About two years after its establishment, FTX’s valuation increased from US$100 million to US$18 billion. CZ also stated at that time that Binance had completely withdrawn from FTX’s equity investment.
The exit was part of the normal investment cycle, was done under good conditions and we remain friends.
If Binance invests $18 billion to exit at a valuation of $1 billion, the return on Binance’s investment in FTX will be ten times. To a certain extent, it can be confirmed that Binance made approximately US$1.6 billion by investing in FTX.
Although there was no direct conflict between Binance and FTX around July 2021, the businesses of both parties have already highly overlapped and directly competed. After that, a period of friction entered.
Some analysts pointed out that the friction between Binance and FTX is caused by many factors. On the one hand, the two parties conflict in the market share of core businesses such as spot and derivatives. On the other hand, there is competition in the ecological layout. But the more important conflict comes from the competition between the two’s strategies and cultures. The analysis said:
The genes of being a Trader determine that SBF has a strong style of opening up situations through trading, and has a very high risk appetite. FTX is more like a large 3AC, running funds with high leverage all year round and making extremely risky strategic choices.
CZ, who is a Chinese engineer, understands human nature well and has a very high risk appetite, but Binance dares to compete and expand in non-compliant and casino ways instead of increasing leverage.
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