Decoding Desert Economics

The UNEP published the world抯 first report on desert eco-wealth Sept. 11， 2017. The only example featured in this report is the desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， which marks the first desert that has been brought under control successfully. Since environmental degradation in the Kubuqi Desert abated， the frequency of dust storms in Beijing has decreased substantially.

Surprisingly， the major player in harnessing the Kubuqi Desert is a company named Eco-Elion. Economic theories state that private enterprises are reluctant to engage in disaster prevention and mitigation， which has attributes of a public good and cannot generate returns on investment. However， Eco-Elion抯 work on desert control for nearly three decades partly overturned economic theories and provided the international community with China experiences in improving ecological environment.

Turf Fight in Artificial Intelligence

The market value of NVIDIA has increased seven times over the past two years. With the rise of a new round of artificial intelligence， the supply of NVIDIA chips fell short of demand as the company抯 GPU products do better in parallel computing power needed for in-depth learning. NVIDIA ranked among the first batch of para-AI chip players on front stage. It is estimated that the total value of the AI chip market would reach US$20 billion by 2021.

Moving forward， artificial intelligence will no longer be applied to a single type of terminal equipment only. The competition between different levels and different paths in chip-making is still on.

Flying Cars on the Horizon？

Flying Car manufacturers at home and abroad have launched products this year. With the popularization of unmanned driving technology and the deepening of airspace reform， problems such as how to take off and land in cities， battery life， safety， and airspace control are being resolved.

The EHang184 autonomous aerial vehicle （AAV） developed by Guangzhou EHang Intelligence Technology Co.， Ltd. （EHang） has been delivered to Dubai for trial operation. This marks the biggest commercial success Chinese enterprises have achieved in this field so far. EHang founder Hu Huazhi said that the Civil Aviation Administration of China has set up a special review team to examine AAVs produced by the company.

Google抯 揂I First？Strategy

Google has been looking for new growth points since it announced in August 2015 to reorganize into a new company called Alphabet and use a new operating structure. Google adjusted the direction of its technical and business strategies during the past two years， and carried out a comprehensive shift from a 揗obile First？strategy to 揂I First.？Currently， all Google products are employing artificial intelligence to some extent.endprint

Incorporating AI into its DNA is only the first step for Google. Going forward， the company hopes to become the master of the AI world. For more than a decade， Google has excelled in developing innovative products targeted at individual consumers. However， it needs to make further changes in order to cultivate industrial users.

Competition in Domestic Car-sharing Industry Intensifies

After the car-sharing business model landed in China， various players including automakers， car rental companies， and Internet entrepreneurs have flocked into this new industry. Available statistics show that as of the end of 2016， more than 370 car-sharing platforms have been established nationwide. Caijing learned that one billion yuan抯 worth of social capital were set to enter the industry in the second half of this year.

In this multi-party competition， the key to winning out lies in dominating strategic resources by effectively integrating and even monopolizing upstream and downstream products， technologies， parking lots， and charging facilities. Integrating resources costs money. Car-sharing platforms have been burning cash and most of them have yet to find ways to make money.endprint