Louise Matsakis

Wanna know why China is so good at manufacturing EVs? How are the products on Shein/Temu so cheap? What's going to happen to TikTok now that its been sold to US investors? We got you!

This is happening right now! Come to the comments on the article below and ask me and @zeyiyang.bsky.social any and all questions you have about China + tech

In Donghai, the “crystal capital of China,” the answers we found had little to do with top-down industrial policy and everything to do with how fast small players iterated, scaled, and competed

Last year, I set out to find a case study that could help explain what’s really behind China’s manufacturing success. We chose the most absurd industry we could find: crystals

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

I was at Davos when this came out, but the story meant a lot to me so I wanted to take a moment to share it now www.wired.com/story/china-...

ICE Asks Companies About ‘Ad Tech and Big Data’ Tools It Could Use in Investigations A new federal filing from ICE demonstrates how commercial tools are increasingly being considered by the government for law enforcement and surveillance.

NEW: ICE is asking companies to provide information about “commercial Big Data and Ad Tech” products that could “directly support investigations activities,” reports @carolinehaskins.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/ice-as...

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

this is a very good feature about how one town in China fully reoriented itself to become the dominant crystal supplier in the world. a microcosm of why china is so good at manufacturing things & has become the leader in cornering all sorts of niche markets:

www.wired.com/story/china-...

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

I'm still on leave so I'm reading WIRED's new China-themed issue for the first time—and it rocks. Especially this story ABOUT rocks, and why most crystals you see at your local yoga studio or juice bar come through one town in northern China: www.wired.com/story/china-...

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China. www.wired.com/china-issue/

Why Everyone Is Suddenly in a ‘Very Chinese Time’ in Their Lives The viral meme isn’t really about China or actual Chinese people. It's a symbol of what Americans believe their own country has lost.

Found this piece, by @zeyiyang.bsky.social and @lmatsakis.bsky.social, to be nuanced and illuminating. Chinamaxxing as a state of "ironic defeat" www.wired.com/story/made-i...

How China’s ‘Crystal Capital’ Cornered the Market on a Western Obsession Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.

The article I've been WAITING TO READ go @lmatsakis.bsky.social

Why Everyone Is Suddenly in a ‘Very Chinese Time’ in Their Lives The viral meme isn’t really about China or actual Chinese people. It's a symbol of what Americans believe their own country has lost.

In case you didn’t get the memo, everyone is feeling very Chinese these days. Chronically online people like @lmatsakis.bsky.social and I have been tracking the zeitgeist of "You met me at a very Chinese time of my life," "Chinamaxxing," and all other variations. Here's why everyone is saying it:

Senior Editor, Business WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

2) We are hiring a senior editor for our business desk, where you'll work with the amazing @zoeschiffer.bsky.social and @lmatsakis.bsky.social and an insanely good squad of reporters:

Senior Editor, Business WIRED is where a better future is imagined. For three decades, we have been the indispensable guide to a world in constant transformation. We cover humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change t...

Come work with me and @zoeschiffer.bsky.social! WIRED is hiring a Senior Business editor in NYC to work closely with our team. Feel free to reach out if you think you might be a good fit or have questions about what it's like at WIRED (it's the best)
condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/CondeCareers...

This week's edition of Made in China includes stories from
@ivylala.bsky.social, @yaling.bsky.social, & @radiimedia.bsky.social

Sign up for Made in China, our weekly briefing on everything you need to know about Chinese tech, here: wired.com/newsletter

Made in China, our newsletter from @zeyiyang.bsky.social and @lmatsakis.bsky.social, really makes me smarter about the world on a weekly basis.

Watching woman die 'will change my life forever,' neighbor says Emily Heller, 39, wasn't even dressed when she heard whistles alerting the neighborhood that ICE agents were in the area this morning. “I’ve never seen

"They carried her body out, just like by her limbs, they didn’t even have a stretcher," a witness says. "She was carried out like a sack of potatoes."

New Records Reveal the Mess RFK Jr. Left When He Dumped a Dead Bear in Central Park Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he left a bear cub’s corpse in Central Park in 2014 to “be fun.” Records newly obtained by WIRED show what he left New York civil servants to clean up.

the one and only @carolinehaskins.bsky.social has obtained new photos and records related to the dead bear RFK Jr. dumped in Central Park: www.wired.com/story/rfk-jr...

don't laugh at my admiration for you...

can't think of anyone better to be writing this book

How Taiwan Made Cashless Payments Cute Taiwan’s digital payment infrastructure is tactile, decentralized, and completely distinct from China’s QR code-dominated model.

Loved this piece about Taiwan’s public transit keychains from @lmatsakis.bsky.social, and especially this one collector:

“Later, I had a lunchbox-shaped one, but looking at it too long would make me hungry, so I never really used it. I just kept it as a toy.”

www.wired.com/story/icash-...

The Viral ‘DoorDash Girl’ Saga Unearthed a Nightmare for Black Creators A delivery driver posted a TikTok alleging she had been sexually assaulted by a customer. The deepfakes that followed reveal a growing digital blackface problem.

You may have heard of the "DoorDash girl"—a driver who alleged a customer exposed himself and filmed it. Afterwards, many Black content creators saw AI-generated versions of themselves defending the customer on TikTok, though they'd said nothing about it: www.wired.com/story/the-vi...

Apple Pulls China’s Top Gay Dating Apps After Government Order The removal of Blued and Finka marks another setback for China’s marginalized LGBTQ+ community.

SCOOP: China's top 2 gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, became unavailable on app stores over the weekend. Apple confirmed to WIRED that it removed the two apps following "an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China."

latest with @lmatsakis.bsky.social

Apple Pulls China’s Top Gay Dating Apps After Government Order The removal of Blued and Finka marks another setback for China’s marginalized LGBTQ+ community.

SCOOP: Apple just pulled two of the most popular gay dating apps in China from after receiving an order from the country's top internet regulator. From me & @zeyiyang.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/apple-...

One of the best newsletters I receive tbqh

Are you curious about what’s really happening in China’s tech ecosystem?? Sign up for our weekly newsletter MADE IN CHINA: www.wired.com/newsletter/e...

TikTok Shop Is Now the Size of eBay TikTok’s ecommerce arm has kept growing steadily, despite tariffs and never-ending debates over whether the platform should be banned.

Despite Trump's tariffs and never-ending political drama, TikTok's e-commerce business is exploding, @zeyiyang.bsky.social reports in this week's Made in China www.wired.com/story/tiktok...

Meta doesn't want to crack down on all the scams too quickly because it will hurt revenue

Meta itself estimates that it's involved in 1/3 of all successful scams in the United States lol

this is the craziest thing I've read in a long time???? Meta projected that 10% of its revenue last year, $16 billion, came from scams. Meta intentionally charges the scammers MORE and knows that people who click on scams are more likely to see more of them www.reuters.com/investigatio...