SUWON, South Korea, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This is an article published in The Korea Herald:

Korea’s automotive cybersecurity legislation has now come into force. Compliance has been required for newly registered vehicle types since August 2025 and will apply to existing mass-production registered vehicle types (production vehicles) from August 2027 as a prerequisite for vehicle sales. The industry, however, now faces a key question: “How should we understand this Korean legislation, and how should we respond?”

Korea’s automotive cybersecurity regulatory framework

As the vehicle industry shifts from hardware-centric to software-centric architectures and the era of connected vehicles accelerates, mandatory automotive cybersecurity requirements are expanding globally. In June 2020, UNECE WP.29 adopted UN R155. Based on this, Korea established a cybersecurity framework under the Motor Vehicle Management Act in February 2024.

Cybersecurity Management System (CSMS) certification assesses automaker’s cybersecurity organization and processes, while Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) verifies implementation on actual vehicles. UN R155 requires both to follow a preapproval system. Korea’s Motor Vehicle Management Act adopts a different structure.

Under Korea’s system, CSMS is subject to preapproval, while VTA follows self-certification with postmarket oversight. This reflects the nature of what is being assessed. Existing automotive safety requirements — such as collision or braking tests — are defined by clear quantitative criteria. CSMS, however, includes many qualitative elements related to an automaker’s organization, processes and policies. As a result, applying a single quantitative or uniform standard is challenging due to differences in organizational structures across automakers. Preapproving CSMS is therefore intended to verify in advance whether the required processes are properly established.

Turning regulatory compliance into operating strategy

Many companies already hold UN R155 certification, but Korea’s requirements often demand additional preparation. Under UN R155, CSMS certification is assessed across 12 major categories.

The Motor Vehicle Management Act further refines these categories into multiple subitems and requires automakers to clearly articulate their positions and provide supporting evidence for each subitem. Effective compliance requires more than translation or formal submission — it demands a clear understanding of regulatory intent and well-prepared evidence. Thorough preparation is essential to obtain certification in a single assessment cycle.

For companies without prior certification experience, the starting point should be CSMS.

CSMS is a management framework, not a technical checklist. Companies should begin by clearly defining internal roles and responsibilities and establishing cybersecurity policies and operational procedures across the full lifecycle, from development and production to postproduction phases. They must also formalize the Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment process by systematically identifying threats and vulnerabilities and documenting response strategies, while establishing continuous monitoring, incident response capabilities and supply chain cybersecurity management.

Focusing on CSMS alone, however, is not enough. While CSMS assesses organizational readiness, VTA verifies whether cybersecurity measures are effective on actual vehicles. VTA requires security testing at both ECU and vehicle levels. Documentation alone is insufficient — an effective automotive cybersecurity system is achieved only when policy, processes and real-vehicle implementation are addressed through an integrated approach.

Ultimately, Korea’s automotive cybersecurity regulation sends a clear message: Cybersecurity does not end with certification; it must be embedded across business operations, with continuous improvement throughout the vehicle life cycle.

Building cyber resilience — the ability to respond to and recover from incidents — further strengthens long-term competitiveness.

Kim Sung-bum

Kim Sung-bum is a technical adviser at Fescaro(https://www.fescaro.com/en/) and a former head of the autonomous driving division at the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute (KATRI). He participated in the enactment of Korea’s automotive cybersecurity legislation. The views in this column are his own.

BEIJING, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scienjoy Holding Corporation (“Scienjoy”, the “Company”, or “we”) (NASDAQ: SJ), an interactive entertainment leader in the Chinese market, today announced the deployment of AI-powered live streamers across its domestic and overseas platforms. This milestone marks a critical transition from technology development to large-scale commercial deployment, with innovative products—ranging from streamer avatars modeled on real individuals to fully digital streamers—being rolled out across multiple platforms.

Streamer Avatars Launched in China, Unlocking Top Streamer Value

Leveraging its technological capabilities in digital human modeling, voice-driven systems, and real-time interaction, Scienjoy has officially launched a digital avatar livestreaming service on its flagship livestreaming platform in China. These avatars are trained using data from real streamers and can replicate their behavior and hosting styles with high fidelity, enabling round-the-clock broadcasting even when human hosts are offline.

The Company believes that this innovative hybrid model of “real streamer + digital avatar” will achieve uninterrupted content delivery, bridge offline gaps for top streamers, and enhance user retention, content supply, and operational flexibility across the platform. Upon launching the app, users can access real streamers or their clearly labeled digital avatars from the navigation menu. This transparent labeling eliminates potential viewer confusion and ensuring full compliance with Chinese livestreaming regulations—without compromising the quality of the live broadcast experience.

With the support of avatars, real streamers can concentrate on content creation and high-value viewer engagement during peak hours, while delegating routine interactions and long-tail traffic management to their digital avatars. This optimized workflow transforms time-constrained content production into sustainable digital productivity, further improving user retention, content supply, and platform operational efficiency and scalability.

Digital Streamers Piloted Overseas, Demonstrating Cross-Market Adaptability

Built on the same technological foundation, digital streamers have been piloted and deployed on Scienjoy’s overseas platform, BeeLive. Unlike the Company’s domestic platforms, BeeLive features a dedicated “Digital Streamer” tab, separate from the real human streamer section, allowing users to easily discover and switch between content hosted by human or AI-powered streamers.

These digital streamers are created through a standardized production pipeline and can be rapidly adapted to a wide range of livestreaming scenarios, including entertainment, gaming, and e-commerce. This provides Scienjoy’s international operations with a stable, cost-effective, and highly scalable content solution.

The overseas pilot demonstrates the strong replicability of Scienjoy’s digital streamer technology across diverse cultural and market environments, supporting the Company’s global expansion with consistent and efficient content delivery.

A Unified Technical Infrastructure for Sustained Growth

From streamer avatars trained on real hosts to fully standardized, mass-producible digital streamers, Scienjoy’s AI commercialization strategy is built on a unified technical infrastructure. This deployment represents not an endpoint, but a foundation for continued validation and scaling of its AI capabilities.

As AI integration deepens across its product portfolio, Scienjoy is strengthening its technology-driven growth model and accelerating its evolution from a traditional mobile internet company into an AI-powered technology enterprise.

Leadership Perspective

Mr. Victor He, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Scienjoy, commented: “The deployment of AI-powered streamers across our platforms validates our technical capabilities and, more importantly, reflects our commitment to building a new growth model that integrates technology, real-world scenarios and business value. Moving forward, we will continue to deepen AI applications within our existing operations while expanding into new industry scenarios to build a sustainable growth trajectory.”

“By enhancing technological standardization and cross-market adaptability, we aim to deliver more immersive and intelligent interactive experiences for users and provide enterprises with practical, results-driven AI solutions .”

About Scienjoy Holding Corporation

Scienjoy is a pioneering Nasdaq-listed interactive entertainment leader. Driven by the vision of shaping a metaverse lifestyle, Scienjoy leverages AI-powered technology to create immersive experiences that resonate with global audiences, fostering meaningful connections and redefining entertainment. For more information, please visit http://ir.scienjoy.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the Company’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, are: the ability to manage growth; ability to identify and integrate other future acquisitions; ability to obtain additional financing in the future to fund capital expenditures; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions; costs or other factors adversely affecting our profitability; litigation involving patents, intellectual property, and other matters; potential changes in the legislative and regulatory environment; a pandemic or epidemic. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) from time to time. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations Contacts
Denny Tang
Chief Financial Officer
Scienjoy Holding Corporation
+86-10-64428188
ir@scienjoy.com

Ascent Investor Relations LLC
Tina Xiao
+1-646-932-7242
investors@ascent-ir.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Youlife Group Inc. (“Youlife” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: YOUL), a leading blue-collar lifetime service provider in China, today announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the “LOI”), expressing the intention to jointly develop, deploy, and commercialize a robotics-enabled workforce-as-a-service (“WaaS”) platform in strategic collaboration with VCI Global Limited (“VCIG”) (NASDAQ: VCIG). The initiative will position Youlife at the forefront of industrial automation and workforce transformation across ASEAN and emerging markets. 

The platform will integrate robotics, artificial intelligence and human workforce management to deliver a guaranteed productivity capacity to enterprises and industrial clients across ASEAN and selected international markets.

AI + Robotics + Workforce Intelligence
At the core of the platform is a tightly integrated technology stack that will include:

• AI-powered computer vision for sorting, grading, quality control, and defect detection
• Autonomous and collaborative robots (AMRs and cobots) for material handling and packing
• Real-time workforce orchestration and scheduling algorithms
• Predictive maintenance and uptime optimization powered by machine learning
• Centralized monitoring dashboards enabling remote supervision of multi-site operations

This technology will enable a single trained operator to supervise multiple robotic units, dramatically improving output per worker while upgrading blue-collar roles into higher-value technical positions.

From Headcount to Output: WaaS
Unlike traditional automation or staffing models, the platform will be offered under a WaaS structure. Clients do not purchase robots or hire large workforces. Instead, they contract for guaranteed daily or monthly production capacity, backed by service-level agreements.

This model converts labor and automation into a scalable operating expense, enabling faster adoption across small, mid-sized, and enterprise customers while delivering recurring revenue visibility.

Industrial Deployment
Initial deployments will focus on sectors with the strongest automation demand and fastest return on investment, including food processing and packhouse operations, warehousing and logistics, light manufacturing, electronics assembly, cold-chain facilities, and agricultural processing.

Each deployment is structured under multi-year service contracts, supporting long-term platform scalability and regional replication.

Strategic Collaboration with VCIG
Under the collaboration, VCIG provides robotics system architecture, AI software, financing structures, and regional scale-up capabilities, while Youlife leads workforce sourcing and deployment, on-site operations, training, and regulatory compliance.

Together, Youlife and VCIG aim to establish a new category of AI-enabled workforce infrastructure aligned with national productivity, ESG, and industrial transformation agendas.

Leadership Commentary
Mr. Yunlei Wang, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Youlife, emphasized, “This platform is designed for scale. We are not automating tasks—we are rebuilding the operating system of blue-collar work using AI and robotics.”

Ms. Liqun Yao, acting Chief Financial Officer of Youlife, added “By shifting from headcount-based labor to output-based productivity, we are unlocking a new growth model for industries across ASEAN.”

Plans for Regional Expansion
Following pilot deployments, Youlife plans to expand the platform across ASEAN, engage with government-led automation initiatives, and explore strategic capital partnerships to accelerate regional adoption.

The LOI is non-binding, and the completion of any transaction remains subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, completion of due diligence, satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and applicable corporate and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that the parties will enter into definitive documentation or that any transaction will be completed.

About Youlife Group Inc.
Youlife is a leading global provider of blue-collar lifecycle services, dedicated to modernizing blue-collar employment through data, training, and AI-driven workforce solutions. In the talent services sector, Youlife operates 180 domestic branches and over 10 overseas offices. By partnering with more than 10,000 renowned enterprises worldwide, Youlife provides stable and future-ready workforce infrastructure at scale. Under its “School-Enterprise Cooperation” model, Youlife maintains a nationwide network of vocational schools, including 25 schools and 25 curriculum development programs, covering 37 cities and counties across 16 provinces in China. For more information, please visit: https://ir.youlife.cn/.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements also include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future events and the future results of Youlife current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industry in which Youlife operates, as well as the beliefs and assumptions of Youlife’s management. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Youlife’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Youlife’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Contact 
Zhuhong Ruan
youlife.ir@youlanw.com
(86) 13917429808