Huawei launched an artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform in Shenzhen on Wednesday, as the tech giant beefs up efforts to enhance its intelligent computing capability to help industries turn 'digital and smart'. Atlas, as the platform is called, is powered by Ascend series AI processors, which Huawei unveiled in October. It will become a key driver for establishing the company's AI ecosystem and achieving its aim of creating a 'fully connected intelligent world', the company said. (China Daily)

Amazon's cloud service platform, Amazon Web Services, announced China Express Airlines, China's first privately owned airline specializing in regional air passenger and cargo transportation, has selected AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology Co Ltd, to provide its cloud infrastructure. China Express migrated its transit 2.0 ticketing system, marketing, internal portal, business process management, and human resources systems to AWS in 2018. (China Daily)

Delta Air Lines plans to launch the first nonstop service between Minneapolis and China in June 2020, a top company official said. 'Revenue from operations between China and the United States rose substantially by 25 percent last year. We expect revenues to have risen by 20 percent in the first quarter of this year also,' said Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines, adding that the bulk of the demand was from China to the US. (China Daily)

BYD held a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the completion of the 300th electric bus at its Lancaster manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of California. 'Three hundred electric buses is a significant milestone. And one million miles of emission-free transportation is pretty cool,' said Frank Girardot, BYD's vice president of communications, referring to BYD's customer Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), which is expected to realize 1 million miles (1.6 million km) of zero-emission bus operations in early May. (China Daily)

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday issued a safety recall for roughly 327,000 trucks over potential issues with the vehicles that can lead to overheating or fires. The announcement affects Ford F-150 trucks from 2015 to 2019 and Super Duty vehicles from 2017 to 2019 that were inspected and serviced after a separate December recall spurred by potential fire concerns. (National Business Daily)

Sanofi, under congressional pressure over the rising cost of its insulin drugs, is making the diabetes treatment more affordable for patients. Starting in June, the Paris-based drugmaker will allow patients of all income levels to pay $99 each month for up to 10 boxes of insulin pens, 10-milliliter (ml) vials, or some mixture of the two. Previously, the company offered individuals who paid cash one 1-ml vial for $99 or $149 for a box of pens. (National Business Daily)

Boeing failed to win any orders for its 737 Max airliner in March as scrutiny of the plane increased following a second deadly crash in less than five months. Deliveries of finished Max jets also tumbled, to 11 from 26 in February. That was not surprising — Boeing suspended deliveries in mid-March after regulators around the world ordered the plane grounded. (National Business Daily)

Microsoft Corp's largest research lab for artificial intelligence and internet of things is scheduled to begin operations in Shanghai on May 15, according to a senior company executive. Known as the Microsoft AI&IoT Insider Lab, the facility is expected to help more than 300 corporate clients turn their prototypes into products every year, said Hsiao-Wuen Hon, vice-president of Microsoft and the managing director of Microsoft Research Asia. (National Business Daily)

State Grid Corp of China said its clean power generation installed capacity has reached 550 million kilowatts, 73 percent of the nation's total capacity of 700 million kilowatts. The installed capacity for hydropower generation, wind power and solar power reached 227 million kilowatts, 146 million kilowatts and 153 kilowatts respectively, up 1 percent, 13 percent and 33 percent compared with the same period in 2017, making the company the world's biggest power grid with access to the largest installed capacity. (Global Times)

BMW Group and Microsoft on Tuesday announced the introduction of their new community initiative, the Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP), to enable faster and more cost-effective innovations in the manufacturing industry. 'Microsoft is joining forces with the BMW Group to transform digital production efficiency across the industry,' Scott Guthrie, executive vice-president of Microsoft Cloud and AI Group, said at the Hanover Messe. (Global Times)

China International Marine Containers has taken control of ailing Canadian brewing machine maker Diversified Metal Engineering to further expand its presence in the North American market. DME, which designs and makes craft brewing equipment and steel tanks for the beverage industry, was acquired by Netherlands-based CIMC Enric Tank & Process for an undisclosed price. CETP is a subsidiary of CIMC Enric Holdings, a Hong Kong stock exchange-listed company, which in turn is a subsidiary of CIMC. (Global Times)

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), one of the world's top oil exporters, will continue to boost its downstream presence in China, after it formalized plans to build a 300,000-barrel-per-day refining and petrochemical complex along with Norinco Group and Panjin Sincen in Panjin, Northeast China's Liaoning province, in February. (Global Times)