Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

🖊 Writing about China and Science at @nytimes.com. 💬 Signal: zeyiyang.06

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

Unfortunately, all of that has come to an end. But I believe this kind of reporting is still appreciated by news readers in the English world, and I hope other outlets will fill this void of quality content on how Chinese tech is changing everything, both in and outside the country.

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

But I'm especially proud of the Source Material section, where we translated influential, fun, authentic stories from Chinese-language media that sadly didn't make their way to an American audience. This was a window into what Chinese people are actually talking about every week.

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

We were reporting on an eclectic mix of topics: from the prevalence of Chinese AI models to AIresistance on the ground; from the rise of TikTok, Shein, and Temu to how they were entangled in geopolitics; plus the export of Chinese cars, Chinese culture, Chinese vapes, and Chinese censorship...

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

I'm very disappointed to learn that WIRED had shut down Made in China, the newsletter my editor Louise and I created together. We published 52 issues in the past year, broke a ton of exclusives, had immense fun, and built a voice that truly care about China, the good and the bad.

@zeyiyang.bsky.social

Told my mum I wanted to be a scientist at 10; ended up a science journalist. That counts…right?

But hi, I’ll be @nytimes.com’ new China Science Correspondent. If you are a Chinese scientist in China, outside China, on the fence, floating around…I’d love to hear what you are working on!

@zeyiyang.bsky.socialReposted by @zeyiyang.bsky.social

SCOOP: Pig-butchering scammers have used enterprise apps like Teams & Webex to defraud Chinese victims and erase evidence afterwards. Desperate victims then resolve to leave angry app store reviews: in the past 18 months, 30% of Teams' reviews and 71%❗of Webex's reviews are explicitly about fraud.

wired.comMicrosoft Teams Has Become a Haven for Scammers in ChinaFraudsters are exploiting enterprise chat apps like Teams and Webex to trick Chinese victims into transferring large sums of money, fueling a wave of complaints.
@zeyiyang.bsky.social

SCOOP: Pig-butchering scammers have used enterprise apps like Teams & Webex to defraud Chinese victims and erase evidence afterwards. Desperate victims then resolve to leave angry app store reviews: in the past 18 months, 30% of Teams' reviews and 71%❗of Webex's reviews are explicitly about fraud.

wired.comMicrosoft Teams Has Become a Haven for Scammers in ChinaFraudsters are exploiting enterprise chat apps like Teams and Webex to trick Chinese victims into transferring large sums of money, fueling a wave of complaints.
@carolinehaskins.bsky.socialReposted by @zeyiyang.bsky.social

NEW (& no paywall): One of Flock's biggest selling points is its private search network—but how does it actually work? And how does an ordinary city end up sharing its data with, say, 2,000+ other agencies?

I FOIA'ed Flock customers from around the country to find out:
www.wired.com/story/how-an...

wired.comHow an Atlanta Suburb Ended Up Sharing Flock Data With More Than 2,000 OrganizationsAlpharetta, Georgia, cops share data with thousands of Flock users, ranging from federal agencies to a fish and wildlife commission. The reasons why show how vast—and invasive—the network has become.
@carolinehaskins.bsky.socialReposted by @zeyiyang.bsky.social

New: A recent Flock misuse investigation led to the resignation of a Georgia police officer.

I got the investigation files via public record request. They reveal that he used Flock to monitor 2 fellow cops—one was his former fling, the other was her friend:
www.wired.com/story/a-geor...

wired.comA Georgia Cop Used Flock to Track 2 Other Cops: His Ex and Her FriendAfter an affair with a fellow police officer ended, a Georgia cop used Flock to track her movements—and those of a man whose vehicle often showed up near hers, internal investigation records show.
@zeyiyang.bsky.social

Replugging this from last week as Unitree just went public today

Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅@zeyiyang.bsky.social

You must have seen this clanker already: 4-foot-tall, hollowed out face, blue glow light, aluminum body. In 2026, it’s become the humanoid robot of choice for clout-seeking, crowd-pleasing jobs: dancing, flirting, chasing hogs, begging for money, being bullied on livestream, etc.

wired.comThe Next Big Influencer Is This 4-Foot-Tall Robot From ChinaThe Unitree G1 has found online fame as a relatively affordable robot that can charm a crowd. But can it ever hold down a real job?
@zeyiyang.bsky.social

You must have seen this clanker already: 4-foot-tall, hollowed out face, blue glow light, aluminum body. In 2026, it’s become the humanoid robot of choice for clout-seeking, crowd-pleasing jobs: dancing, flirting, chasing hogs, begging for money, being bullied on livestream, etc.

wired.comThe Next Big Influencer Is This 4-Foot-Tall Robot From ChinaThe Unitree G1 has found online fame as a relatively affordable robot that can charm a crowd. But can it ever hold down a real job?
@zeyiyang.bsky.social

I interviewed Yiyang Zhuge/仲树, whose talk with Nolan went so viral that Americans couldn’t stop talking and fighting about. A prolific podcast host (360 eps in 3 years!!) and social media poster in China, she found herself in new controversies all of a sudden.

in this week’s @wired.com newsletter:

wired.comThe Chinese Philosopher Americans Can’t Stop Fighting AboutYiyang Zhuge was already an intellectual celebrity in China. Her viral interview with Christopher Nolan made her famous in the US—and quickly turned her into a political Rorschach test.
@zeyiyang.bsky.social

Here's what really matters about the OpenClaw hype in China that got grandmas queueing to install it: OpenClaw adopters are enthusiastic or desperate enough to pay for servers and API calls without hesitation. To Chinese companies, that's the best news they've ever heard, so they are going all in.

wired.comChina’s OpenClaw Boom Is a Gold Rush for AI CompaniesHype around the open source agent is driving people to rent cloud servers and buy AI subscriptions just to try it, creating a windfall for tech companies.
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