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Viola Zhou

@violazhou.bsky.social

570 followers 90 following 27 posts

Reporter at @restofworld.org Covering tech, AI, and manufacturing 📍Hong Kong to New York 📧[email protected], DM open

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Reposted by Viola Zhou

Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 @zeyiyang.bsky.social · 7d

In college, I'd always walk past an unremarkable store in Beijing that sold a variety of trendy, but tacky, toys. That store has turned into Pop Mart, the $45-billion Chinese toy empire behind Labubu, the biggest global fad of 2025.

This is my big story/pilgrimage trip to explain how they got here

A Journey Into the Heart of Labubu

I made an epic trek across four countries to answer one question: Why is the world going mad for a plushie monster?

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · Sep 5

“DeepSeek is so much better than doctors.” @violazhou.bsky.social is unsettled by the way her mother, a kidney transplant patient in eastern China, relies on an AI chatbot for health advice. But she also recognizes that the bigger problem is a systemic one. restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Sep 2

In this personal essay (my first for @restofworld.org), I explore patients’ relationship with AI, why chatbots can’t yet replace doctors, the caretaking burden on my one-child generation, and the tech industry that promises to ease our struggles.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Sep 2

Not long after DeepSeek R1 launched, I discovered that my mother had started using the chatbot as her virtual doctor.

I worried about her reliance on AI. But over time, I realized Dr. DeepSeek was offering something no human in her life could.

restofworld.org/2025/ai-chat...

My mom and Dr. DeepSeek

In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Aug 22

With 128 GPUs, Mongolian startup Egune AI is training large-language models tailored to Mongolian language, culture, and nomadic traditions.

Story on why small nations are building their own LLMs despite limited resources
restofworld.org/2025/mongoli... via @restofworld.org

The Mongolian startup defying Big Tech with its own LLM

Egune is one of several linguistically and culturally aware AI models built by smaller nations to reduce reliance on American and Chinese tech giants.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Rina Chandran @rinachandran.bsky.social · May 9

Sendo’s online grocery delivery business is encouraging Vietnamese housewives, store owners, and anyone else with unused fridge space to become a grocery distribution and pickup center, reports @lamle52.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/sendo-f...

How do you compete with Chinese e-commerce giants? A Vietnamese company is deploying housewives

Sendo, once poised to become Vietnam’s leading e-commerce company, is reinventing itself to survive against TikTok Shop and Shopee.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Apr 23

While talking to logistics people, I learned that many non-Chinese brands, including American ones, also use de minimis to ship into the US. They will have to pay high tariffs as long as the goods are made in China.

like this Canadian underwear store has to stop US shipping.

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Apr 23

With the de minimis change coming up, some Americans are spending thousands of $$ placing “last orders” on Temu, Shein, AliExpress.

“I am stocking up on everything I think I will need over the next two to three years.”

restofworld.org/2025/temu-sh... via @restofworld.org

Chinese sellers and U.S. buyers prepare for the end of ultracheap shopping

Temu and Shein are set to raise prices ahead of the de minimis loophole’s closure.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 @zeyiyang.bsky.social · Apr 14

NEW: It's not just e-commerce. So much of US businesses rely on China for manufacturing, and Trump's tariff peek-a-boo is leaving them in limbo. I talked to a dozen+ American businesses from mom&pop shops to $100m-revenue brands to unpack why tariffs won't magically bring factories back to the US.

Why It’s Impossible for Most Small Businesses to Manufacture in the US

American companies that make everything from keychains to mattresses say Chinese manufacturing is superior, and tariffs won’t be enough to shift production to the United States.

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Fan Wenxin @xinwenfan.bsky.social · Mar 14

Must-read feature that would have shined in any news magazine, by @violazhou.bsky.social who braved the Michigan snowstorm to bring us a documentary movie-style story of a Chinese EV business in America! restofworld.org/2025/gotion-...

How a Chinese battery factory sparked a political meltdown in a small Michigan town

The ambitious executives at Gotion wanted to join America’s EV gold rush. Then came geopolitics.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Camille Bromley @chameauleon.bsky.social · Mar 19

I chatted with @violazhou.bsky.social at @restofworld.org about how she covers the Chinese tech industry. We talked DeepSeek, tariffs, and AI competition for @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/the_media_to...

Q&A: Viola Zhou on the Challenge of Covering Chinese Tech

The Trump administration thinks of Chinese tech as a dangerous rival to Silicon Valley. How do Chinese companies see it?

Reposted by Viola Zhou

The Sunday Long Read @thesundaylongread.bsky.social · Mar 23

Viola Zhou (@violazhou.bsky.social) spent months tracking Chinese EV battery maker Gotion and its efforts to open a Michigan factory. The result is a modern political allegory with few simple solutions. @jacobfeldman.bsky.social & @dvnjr.bsky.social's favorite restofworld.org/2025/gotion-...

How a Chinese battery factory sparked a political meltdown in a small Michigan town

The ambitious executives at Gotion wanted to join America’s EV gold rush. Then came geopolitics.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 11

The Postal Inspection Service has stepped up crackdown, and discussed the issue with Chinese officials.

But parcels are still getting delivered for free, due to system loopholes and human errors. “It was not on us to do anything,” a postal worker told me.

restofworld.org/2025/temu-se...

Chinese Temu sellers use fake U.S. postage labels to boost their profits

Some vendors have figured out how to maintain ultralow prices: Trick the U.S. postal service into delivering products for free.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 11

On Xiaohongshu, vendors openly advertise fraudulent shipping labels, dubbed “tech labels” or “running-water labels.”

They sell those labels at as low as 60 cents, claiming they could be addressed to anywhere in the U.S.

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 11

One merchant told me he used fake labels in order to make his products cheaper on Temu – for the unbranded bargain goods, only ultra-low prices lead to high sales.

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 11

Chinese e-commerce merchants, including some on Temu, are using fake shipping labels to trick the U.S. postal service into delivering products for free.

Latest for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/temu-se...

Chinese Temu sellers use fake U.S. postage labels to boost their profits

Some vendors have figured out how to maintain ultralow prices: Trick the U.S. postal service into delivering products for free.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Michael Zelenko @mvzelenko.bsky.social · Feb 11

NEW: Chinese e-commerce sellers are scamming USPS out of MILLIONS of dollars using fake postage labels

restofworld.org/2025/temu-se...

Fantastic piece from @violazhou.bsky.social

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 5

Scholar Yu Zhou says these young researchers reminded her of China’s first, Silicon Valley-inspired internet startups in the early 2000s.

“They wanted to make internet available to China, the DeepSeek people want to make AI available to China.”

restofworld.org/2025/china-a... via @restofworld.org

DeepSeek’s rise shows why China’s top AI talent is skipping Silicon Valley

Young Chinese engineers focus on homegrown innovation, drawn by fewer visa hurdles and the chance to build a future on their own terms.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 5

These AI talents come from Chinese universities, state-backed labs, and companies such as Beijing-based Microsoft Research Asia – dubbed an AI bootcamp.

“[DeepSeek] managed to get the best of the best,” said Daniel Palomar, PhD adviser to R1 core contributor Junxiao Song.

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Feb 5

DeepSeek’s breakthrough shows the strength of China’s AI talent pool.

Researcher at a top Silicon Valley company told us they had hired brilliant Chinese interns to work on AI projects. But some turned down full-time offers to return to China.

restofworld.org/2025/china-a... via @restofworld.org

DeepSeek’s rise shows why China’s top AI talent is skipping Silicon Valley

Young Chinese engineers focus on homegrown innovation, drawn by fewer visa hurdles and the chance to build a future on their own terms.

restofworld.org

Reposted by Viola Zhou

Rest of World @restofworld.org · Jan 23

For this year’s photo contest, we put out a call asking readers to show us how technology is impacting their world. We received 227 entries from 45 countries — here are the winners
restofworld.org/2025/tech-ph...

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Jan 16

Thanks Carwyn! I contributed a small part but agree it’s a good list😆

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Jan 15

My story on one dark side of #Xiaohongshu and Chinese social media in general: when some black users came to the app in 2023, they were not as welcomed.

restofworld.org/2023/chinese...

Chinese internet trolls are adopting American racism to taunt Black users

Users are harassing Black creators with profile pictures of white police officers.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Jan 15

The trans community on #Xiaohongshu, and how the algorithm to an extent protected it from censorship, by Xinrou Shu

restofworld.org/2023/xiaohon...

Xiaohongshu becomes an online oasis for trans people in China

As authorities tighten their grip on LGBTQ content, the social media platform is a rare exception.

restofworld.org

Viola Zhou @violazhou.bsky.social · Jan 15

You’ve probably seen many users called “momo” on #Xiaohongshu. Here’s why, by @caiwei.bsky.social

restofworld.org/2023/social-...

Why thousands of young Chinese people use a pink dinosaur as their alias

Users adopt the alias “momo” as a way to speak more freely, evade harassment, and protect personal privacy on Douban and Xiaohongshu.

restofworld.org