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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.
A student does an exercise during an AI class at the College Jean Mace in Mulhouse, France, on March 26. AI is seen as a revolution in thinking and learning. Photo: AFP
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Despite its hype, AI is just a means to economic resilience

To survive the shift from winner-takes-all capitalism to true sustainability, the learning curve is steep. AI is just the latest tool to help us climb it.

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Robotics

Unitree to debut cheapest humanoid robot globally via Alibaba: sources

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IPO

Hangzhou ‘Six Little Dragons’ member Manycore seeks US$130m from Hong Kong IPO

Artificial intelligence

China’s DeepSeek adds expert chatbot mode ahead of much-awaited V4 release

The Hangzhou start-up’s latest chatbot update sparks speculation over whether the expert mode is linked to the long-delayed V4 model.

The changes come ahead of the much-anticipated release of DeepSeek’s next-generation flagship model V4 this month. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Chinese AI glasses maker Rokid planning Hong Kong IPO: sources

Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth.

Singapore

From ‘Unicorn Land’ to Singapore: Estonian start-ups chase tech dream in Asean

Veriff and other unicorn companies are targeting Singapore for their regional headquarters, citing similarities in digital advancement.

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Artificial intelligence

What Zhipu and MiniMax’s first post-IPO earnings say about the 2 AI start-ups

The two Chinese start-ups show promising commercialisation of AI models, which are reflected in rising demand and revenue.

Chinese AI start-ups Zhipu AI and MiniMax have shown early signs of sustainable commercialisation of their AI models. Photo: Xinhua
Banking & finance

Hong Kong tycoon-backed start-up raises US$300 million to scale battery push

The California-based firm will use new funding to scale manufacturing and expand globally, with Hong Kong anchoring its regional push.

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

Chinese AI start-up restores chatbot service by Monday morning after overnight disruption affects millions of users.

DeepSeek issued fixes between 1am and 9am on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
Robotics

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

Limited training data and unresolved hardware challenges continue to hold back humanoid robots from mass adoption, say experts.

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A humanoid robot serves candied hawthorn on sticks at the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing, March 25, 2026. Unlike ChatGPT, the robotics industry has yet to find its sweet spot. Photo: Reuters
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.

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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China’s lower-cost AI language models surged in popularity in 2025 with the release of DeepSeek R1. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

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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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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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Beijing has pledged to provide a broader range of financing options to nurture the next generation of strategic industries. Photo: Xinhua
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.

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.

Anthropic has rejected the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models. Photo illustration: Reuters
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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