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Articles about early-stage companies; pre-IPO, including those still being funded by angel investors, private equity or venture capitalists.
Mike Cai Wensheng of Meitu. Photo: Felix Wong
Hong Kong property

Meitu founder buys Hong Kong’s Ginza-style building for US$84 million

Meitu founder invests US$84 million in Hong Kong property to create a crypto/AI start-up hub.

Robotics

Why car park operator Shoucheng is doubling down on China robotics investment

DeepSeek

DeepSeek’s new maths-solving model is generating buzz, but mostly about R2

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Artificial intelligence

The SMC: what to see at the Shanghai AI incubator visited by Xi Jinping

The Chinese president toured the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre on Tuesday to highlight the country’s vast potential in AI.

An AI sign at the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre. Photo: Wency Chen
Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek quietly updates open-source model that handles maths proofs

The Chinese start-up has released the Prover-V2 model a day after Alibaba released Qwen3, and ahead of an anticipated release of DeepSeek-R2.

US-China tech war

Chinese AI and robotics start-ups respond to Xi’s self-reliance call

The Chinese president met representatives from several AI and robotics start-ups during a visit to Shanghai.

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DeepSeek

DeepSeek speculation swirls online over Chinese AI start-up’s R2 model

The latest speculation includes R2’s imminent launch and the new benchmarks that it set in terms of cost-efficiency and performance.

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DeepSeek’s R2 artificial intelligence model was said to have been trained on a server cluster of Huawei Technologies’ Ascend 910B chips, according to Chinese social-media posts. Photo: Shutterstock
Robotics

China’s UBTech, Midea push humanoid robots into factories amid push for adoption

UBTech’s Walker humanoids are headed for a car plant, while Midea plans to have its own robots in an appliance factory by next month.

Venture capital market

China life sciences-focused Dalton Venture expands operations to Hong Kong

The venture capital firm expects the size of its potential new fund in Hong Kong to range between US$103 million to US$129 million.

Artificial intelligence

Baidu offers new AI models at lower cost than DeepSeek’s products

The lower cost would help developers focus on creating ‘more super interesting and useful’ AI applications, Baidu CEO Robin Li says.

Baidu has made available to developers its latest artificial intelligence models, Ernie 4.5 Turbo and X1 Turbo. Photo: Shutterstock
DeepSeek

DeepSeek on recruitment drive as start-up remains tight-lipped on new AI model

This marks the first time DeepSeek has published product-related job openings, as it has largely focused on fundamental AI model research.

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DeepSeek is also in the process of hiring a chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Photo: Shutterstock
Electric & new energy vehicles

Intel, Chinese partners ModelBest and Black Sesame push smart car systems

The collaborations reflect demand in China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market, for more computing power in sophisticated cockpits.

Hong Kong science and tech

Hong Kong, Zhejiang to boost links in 13 key areas including AI, smart cities

City leader John Lee also calls on entrepreneurs of Ningbo descent to invest in border innovation hub.

Hong Kong science and tech

Is Hong Kong the key to helping mainland China’s rising tech stars go global?

Presence of mainland tech firms in Hong Kong would also improve local R&D landscape, observers say.

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BrainCo product experience officer Ni Mincheng uses brain waves to control robotic arms. Photo: Dickson Lee
US-China relations

Opinion | In AI race against US, China is racking up real-world wins

The US may hold the lead in cutting-edge AI tech but China is racking up economic wins with real-world adoption.

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The owner of a sock shop in Yiwu International Trade City uses AI to generate a product introduction video in English on February 25 in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. Photo: China News Service via Getty Images
John Lee

Hong Kong’s John Lee in Hangzhou to boost tech and economic ties

Cooperation agreements will cover technological innovation, housing, economic and trade partnerships, as well as youth development initiatives.

Robotics

China’s humanoid robot half-marathon puts technology’s limits on public display

Videos of robots falling, trembling and struggling to stay upright circulated widely, with only six out of 21 finishing the race.

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Robotics

Chinese robotics star Unitree opens Hangzhou factory amid humanoid frenzy

Unitree opened the 10,000-square-metre facility this year, located just 15 minutes from its headquarters.

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A visitor dressed in an ancient costume interacts with a Unitree humanoid robot at the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo in Hainan on April 13. Photo: Xinhua
Robotics

China’s humanoid robot sector enters mass production in 2025

Six humanoid robot makers plan to produce more than 1,000 units in 2025, driving the value of domestic output to US$616 million this year.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese tech giants race to expand AI services market via open-standard protocol

China is seeing growing adoption of the model context protocol, which has become a de facto standard for AI integration.

Tourism

Can AI replace travel agents? Holiday app start-ups take on the big players

A host of tourism tech firms are offering holidays planned by artificial intelligence in a challenge to established market players.

Want to pack your bags and head off on holiday? Then a host of new start-ups are entering the market and using AI to help travellers book and plan their vacations. Photo: Shutterstock
DeepSeek

From gifted student to AI hero, DeepSeek founder inspires a nation

Hailing from an obscure village in southern China, Liang Wenfeng has risen from humble roots to become a household name.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
IPO

Shenzhen pork producer, Beijing AI firm eye Hong Kong listings

Sixteen companies submitted listing applications for Hong Kong’s main board in the past two weeks, according to exchange data.

Artificial intelligence

China AI unicorn Zhipu eyes IPO filing this year after DeepSeek’s success

The Beijing-based start-up, which is sanctioned by the US, has submitted pre-IPO documents on the mainland with plans to file for an IPO by October.

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Robotics

Tencent-backed household robot maker Narwal raises US$100 million

Narwal, known for its robot vacuums and mops, will use the funding to develop an AI-powered household product.

Household robot company Narwal has raised US$100 million in a new funding round. Photo: Handout
China technology

Opinion | The AI rivalry to watch is between China and Chinese in the US

Will the next generation choose China’s speed and resources with higher guard rails, or the chaotic, open-ended US where failure is allowed?

Illustration: Craig Stephens
ByteDance

TikTok drives ByteDance’s overseas sales despite US hurdles: report

ByteDance’s total revenue is said to have risen to US$155 billion last year, placing the unicorn among the world’s top internet giants.

Artificial intelligence

New AI fund in China to pour US$8 billion into early-stage projects

The AI Industry Investment Fund was established by the industry and finance ministries with money from the Big Fund.

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