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Start-ups

Start-ups
Articles about early-stage companies; pre-IPO, including those still being funded by angel investors, private equity or venture capitalists.
Hangzhou-based Manycore, operator of the world’s largest spatial design platform. Photo: Weibo
IPO

Breathing fire: Manycore first of the ‘Six Little Dragons’ to near Hong Kong IPO

Spatial intelligence firm moves ahead of tech peers after clearing a key Hong Kong listing hurdle.

DeepSeek

‘I no longer knew how to work without it’: DeepSeek outage cuts off millions

Robotics

Why China’s humanoid robots are still waiting for their ‘ChatGPT moment’

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Robotics

Video | Here’s what it takes to get a robot ready for the world

Each robot requires eight hours of rigorous testing to be ready for customers.

An employee assembles robots at the production line during organized media tour to the Robotics Pilot Testing and Validation Platform of Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics (X-Humanoid) in Beijing, China, March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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Banking & finance

HKIC, Gobi Partners and HKU launch fund to back university research start-ups

Gobi-HKU Fund I makes first bets at launch, investing in robotics and AI drug design spin-offs born from university research breakthroughs.

US-China trade war

US panel credits China’s AI edge to open-source models, manufacturing dominance

American Congressional commission concludes China’s open ecosystem has seen performance gaps narrowed with top Western large language models.

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Artificial intelligence

OpenClaw, government support fuel rise of 1-person companies in China

Guangdong is the first provincial-level government to roll out comprehensive action plans to support AI-powered OPCs.

A setup session to install OpenClaw outside the Baidu offices in Beijing, March 17, 2026. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

US sounds alarm over China’s humanoid robots amid security concerns

AI and robotics executives warn American lawmakers that China’s rapid advances – led by Unitree – threaten US dominance.

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Hong Kong stock market

First HKIC bet SmartMore seeks Hong Kong IPO amid booming tech pipeline

Unicorn’s AI platforms power firms from Tesla to Apple suppliers, highlighting the government fund’s role in the city’s tech investment push.

United States

Anthropic sues Trump administration as row over AI use by military deepens

The Pentagon blacklisted the start-up after it refused to let its technology be used for fully autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance.

The Pentagon on Thursday slapped a formal supply-chain risk designation on Anthropic, limiting use of a technology that a source said was being used for military operations in Iran. Photo illustration: TNS
Two Sessions 2026

China’s top court says it treats AI cases with care without stifling innovation

Supreme People’s Procuratorate says 4,739 individuals prosecuted last year in cases related to ‘data security breaches’.

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In an annual work report presented to the NPC, the president of China’s supreme court says courts “properly adjudicated cases” involving AI and “accurately grasped the ‘margin for error’ in technological innovation”. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

China’s DeepSeek teams with Tencent, HKU on AI tool to sharpen 3D design

Open-source Pointer-CAD framework, built on Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 model, enhances accuracy and efficiency in computer-aided design: researchers.

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US-China tech war

How China’s trillion-yuan plan aims to outpace US curbs and fund new tech giants

Beijing’s work report outlines funding, IPO support and SOE-led tech adoption to accelerate AI and other frontier industries.

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Venture capital market

China’s state-led venture capital revival risks losing momentum

Four government funds formed to back projects, but lack of funding diversity could risk stalling the industry again if policy shifts.

Several government funds have been formed in China to support investments in key projects. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mergers & Acquisitions

How AI ‘scare trade’ is sparking an M&A rush by traditional firms, start-ups

AI start-ups and legacy firms clash in capital markets, spurring M&A as the technology reshapes industries.

AI-related disruptions are projected to lead to more mergers and acquisitions, accelerating automation, especially in the software-as-a-service industry. Photo: Shutterstock
United States

US Treasury to stop using Anthropic AI tech, including Claude platform

Anthropic had previously turned down the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models.

United States

Anthropic vows to sue US after Trump tells government to stop using firm’s AI

The start-up has refused to let its models be used for the mass surveillance of US citizens or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems.

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Artificial intelligence

Facebook owner Meta goes ahead with Manus merger despite Beijing probe

Some Manus employees in Singapore move into Meta’s offices and have been given corporate accounts and other access, two sources said.

Manus rose to fame in March 2025 after releasing what it described as the world’s first general AI agent. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

China’s MiniMax, Moonshot top AI token use ranking, ending year of US dominance

AI hosting platform OpenRouter’s latest ranking shows high demand for Chinese open-source models following a series of new releases.

Artificial intelligence

Anthropic’s allegations against Chinese firms expose AI training grey area

The US AI lab says DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax AI used its systems to improve their models’ capabilities.

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Robotics

From Doraemon to dexterous hands: LinkerBot equips robots with human skills

The start-up is revolutionising humanoid robotics with ultra-dexterous hands, ushering in a new era of humanlike robotic capability.

Robots play the piano and drums in Shenzhen. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
US-China relations

China’s extreme 996 work schedule meets US tech’s hustle culture

Why advocates believe 996, the controversial 9am to 9pm, six-day-a-week culture popularised in China, can give American firms decisive edge.

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China’s 996 work culture – a schedule of 9am-9pm, six days a week – has become a hot topic for the next generation of tech founders in the United States. However, such military-style management is not for everyone. Photo: Shutterstock
IPO

Will Chinese AI chip designer Enflame’s Shanghai IPO be another blockbuster?

Tencent-backed Enflame’s listing on the Star Market could follow successful recent flotations from peers Moore Threads, MetaX and Biren.

Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek boosts AI model with 10-fold token addition as Zhipu AI unveils GLM-5

The upgrade will allow DeepSeek’s AI model to remember and process more information in a single conversation or task.

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Artificial intelligence

Funding surge powers Chinese robotics firms as focus shifts to humanoid ‘brains’

State-backed funds, Big Tech drive fresh capital into robotics companies, betting on operating systems that underpin humanoid intelligence.

A humanoid robot at the Beijng World of Robots. A new wave of firms is emerging with capital directed towards robotic software and operating systems. Photo: Xinhua
Artificial intelligence

Compact AI model from China’s StepFun outshines rivals from DeepSeek, Moonshot

StepFun says its lightweight model Step 3.5 Flash aims to redefine efficiency and reasoning in China’s growing AI race.

Chinese AI developers are rushing to launch new models around the Lunar New Year to capitalise on the festive season. Photo: Shutterstock
Robotics

Video | World’s first ‘biomimetic AI robot’ debuts in Shanghai

The robot, which is able to replicate human micro-expressions and walking postures, will be priced at 1.2 million yuan (US$173,000).

Artificial intelligence

China’s AI labs race to debut latest models before Lunar New Year

More firms expected to follow Alibaba and Moonshot with model releases, as the festival becomes a key period to establish visibility.

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