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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 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

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.

Artificial intelligence

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

Robotics

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

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.

A mobile phone’s screen shows the logo of China’s Zhipu AI in Beijing on January 21, 2026. Photo: AFP
Robotics

Forget soulless humanoid robots like Tesla’s Optimus. This one’s more Wall-E

Fauna Robotics’ humanoid robot Sprout is an attempt to start a focus on ‘approachable’ robots inspired by Wall-E and BB-8, not Terminator.

Icons and Influencers

Nadya Okamoto on challenging norms through menstrual care activism

With nearly 4.5 million TikTok followers, the entrepreneur – who also started a non-profit to combat period poverty – has clearly struck a chord.

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Artificial intelligence

Moonshot’s newest release narrows US-China AI model development gap: analysts

Kimi K2.5 raises questions about the potency of US controls on advanced chips to constrain China’s AI efforts, Brookings’ Kyle Chan says.

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Chinese start-up Moonshot AI on Tuesday released its latest artificial intelligence model, Kimi K2.5. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

Hong Kong’s US$8 billion wealth fund eyes fintech, aerospace and AI for growth

The Hong Kong Investment Corporation will use the city’s advantages amid global competition, geopolitical challenges, CEO Clara Chan says.

China technology

Opinion | How Hangzhou’s tech ecosystem nurtures dragons and rockets

It’s not one factor but a ‘rainforest’ of policy, capital, talent, universities and research institutions operating within clear boundaries.

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Artificial intelligence

Alibaba’s Qwen-3 becomes one of world’s first AI models to operate in orbit

The entire Qwen-3 process – from uploading queries to on-orbit inference and sending results back to Earth – took less than two minutes.

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Adaspace Technology’s constellation of 12 satellites, equipped with AI-powered computing systems, was launched on May 14, 2025. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Geely-linked veteran Yin Qi joins Chinese AI start-up StepFun as chairman

StepFun closes US$690 million B+ funding round as the company doubles down on “physical AI”.

StepFun has wrapped up a 5 billion yuan (US$690 million) Series B+ funding round and sharpened its focus on so-called “physical AI”. Photo: Handout
Robotics

Chinese tech giants Tencent and Baidu join fight for Spring Festival spotlight

The two companies launch digital red packet campaigns following tie-up moves by ByteDance and Alibaba with CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala.

Robotics

China’s Eyou opens world’s first automated line for humanoid robot joints

Manufacturer adds line in anticipation of surge in global demand for humanoid robots, with one estimate projecting 100,000 shipments by 2027.

Artificial intelligence

Next level: why China’s game makers are quietly bankrolling generative AI

From scripts and storylines to customer service and user-generated worlds, developers are deploying LLM tools across the gaming pipeline.

Peacekeeper Elite, also known as Game for Peace, by Tencent Holdings. Photo: Handout
IPO

From labs to listings: capital markets are the next battleground in the AI race

Stock exchanges have become another barometer in the US-China tech rivalry as markets assess a wave of start-ups in real time.

Illustration: Henry Wong
Artificial intelligence

China’s ‘infrastructure first’ effort a major edge in AI arms race: Davos panel

A rapid energy buildout and strategic data centre expansion give China unique advantages in developing its AI industry.

Artificial intelligence

China-founded Shanda’s AI lab boosts Singapore operation, pulling China research

MiroMind asks some staff in Shanghai to relocate and continue their AI research work in Singapore, sources say.

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Artificial intelligence

Beijing outlines tech push with focus on AI, 6G, humanoid robots

Tech ministry’s plan targets breakthroughs in AI models, agents and chips, as well as AI’s spread into diverse sectors.

A child interacts with a robot at a store in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong province, on January 16, 2026. Photo: Xinhua
HKEX

New energy, AI, EV and biotech to drive Hong Kong IPO growth: HKEX

11 companies raised US$4 billion in Hong Kong in the first three weeks of 2026, with hundreds more lining up to list, Bonnie Chan says.

China technology

China’s nuclear fusion start-ups power up with record funding round

Startorus Fusion raised US$143 million, a record for a private firm, while Supermag New Energy received ‘several hundred million yuan’.

DeepSeek

DeepSeek a year on: how a Chinese start-up sparked a global AI arms race

DeepSeek’s meteoric rise propelled the growth of the open-source AI ecosystem by spurring its competitors to join the movement.

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DeepSeek’s meteoric rise has propelled the growth of the open-source AI ecosystem by spurring its competitors to join the movement. Photo: Shutterstock
Robotics

China’s Unitree ships over 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, surpassing US peers

The Hangzhou-based firm’s output far outstripped the roughly 150 units each shipped by Tesla, Figure AI and Agility Robotics last year.

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A G1 humanoid robot model from Unitree waves at visitors during the 21st China International Equipment & Manufacturing Industry Expo in Tianjin on March 6, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
Robotics

China dominates global humanoid robot market with over 80% of installations

AgiBot and Unitree help China capture bulk of global deployments in 2025 as market heads for sixfold growth by 2027, report says.

China stock market

China pushes slow bull run with tightened margin financing rules

‘Investors should reduce their leverage levels to guard against the risk of volatility,’ BOC International’s Wang Jun says.

Semiconductors

SpacemiT to launch server-class RISC-V processor following capital injection

CEO Chen is betting on Edge AI – which can run AI algorithms locally rather than in the cloud – to boost the adoption of RISC-V chips.

Shipments of processors based on the RISC-V architecture are forecast to grow 50 per cent each year between 2024 and 2030. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek stays mum on next AI model release as technical papers show frontier innovation

Hangzhou-based start-up’s technical papers bode well for potential advances in its next major AI models.

DeepSeek’s latest technical papers underscore its efforts to improve the underlying infrastructure of AI models in China. Photo: Shutterstock
US-China tech war

Editorial | Review of Meta-Manus deal a reminder of what’s at stake in US-China rivalry

As Chinese firms look abroad, the authorities have to balance intellectual property protection and national security against commercial interests.

Artificial intelligence

China’s AI unlikely to surpass US soon despite progress, researchers say

China’s top AI scientists warn of chip deficits and resource limits, though some predict breakthroughs within five years.

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