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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, the SeeLight S1, performs a household chore. Photo: Changjiang Daily
Robotics

China unveils first humanoid robot for household chores, ready as early as 2027

Companies are still improving data required for robots to perform complex household tasks, some of which require embodied AI.

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Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek adds former Jane Street engineer to harness team amid agentic AI push

Artificial intelligence

Chinese premier urges faster, broader adoption of AI in advanced manufacturing

Artificial intelligence

China’s Moonshot AI moves to unwind offshore structure in IPO pursuit: sources

Beijing-based unicorn tells shareholders it will dismantle VIE model as regulators tighten oversight, as shift may signal new era for foreign tech investment.

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Founder of Moonshot AI Yang Zhilin speaks at the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing on March 25. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Ex-Meta Chinese star joins race for self-improving AI with US$4.6b start-up

The funding round was led by venture capital firms GV and Greycroft, with ‘major participation’ from Nvidia and AMD.

Artificial intelligence

Kimi developer Moonshot AI valued at US$20b as it navigates new IPO rules

Firm raised US$2 billion from investors including Meituan’s venture and China Mobile, taking total to US$3.9 billion in the last six months.

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Art

Are NFTs the hero or villain in the contemporary art scene?

In March, Art Basel Hong Kong featured a dedicated space for digital practices, raising the question: what’s next for non-fungible tokens?

The financial hype behind NFTs may have evaporated, but blockchain technology still has many applications. Photo: Josh Ye
Robotics

Hype or real: China’s robot boom faces reality check as commercialisation lags

Capital floods into China’s robotic sector but profitability remains elusive as challenges emerge with the industry’s business model.

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Venture capital market

Hong Kong tech hub progress ‘significant’, Dalton Venture’s Steve Sun says

City’s measures to retain research talent and encourage the commercialisation of research results ‘gradually taking effect’, venture capitalist says.

Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek mystery: who is speaking for start-up amid CEO Liang Wenfeng’s absence?

Researcher Chen Deli is emerging as DeepSeek’s new public face as speculation over the whereabouts of the company’s founder and CEO lingers.

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DeepSeek’s logo is reflected in the glasses of a student. The company recently released its V4 model. Photo: Getty Images
Millionaires and billionaires

Elon Musk’s trial against Sam Altman reveals power struggle for OpenAI

Musk, one of the original co-founders of OpenAI, is seeking US$150 billion in damages from the company and Microsoft, one of its largest investors.

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached ​Musk about co-founding OpenAI in May 2015. Photo: TNS
Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek takes step away from Nvidia amid export curbs on China

DeepSeek’s new artificial intelligence model puts up a price challenge to US rivals and is a further step towards a stand-alone Chinese AI ecosystem.

Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek unveils next-gen AI model as Huawei vows ‘full support’ with new chips

The company says its cost-efficient new V4 model is competitive with top closed-source models from OpenAI and Google DeepMind.

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Artificial intelligence

Beijing sounds alarm over urgent need to clean up online ads

Market watchdog flags AI abuse and traffic-driven tactics as it launches first campaign to overhaul online advertising.

China’s top market regulator is set to launch a six-month crackdown on the country’s internet advertising sector. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek isn’t short of cash: so why has it decided to raise funds anyway?

DeepSeek is raising a small funding round not for cash, but to set a valuation benchmark and retain talent as rivals ramp up poaching.

DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng is pursuing ambitions in artificial general intelligence – AI capable of matching human performance across a wide range of tasks. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

‘State-of-the-art’ models can struggle with basic office work, says AI executive

Advanced AI can ace Olympiad maths yet falters in routine office tasks as enterprises turn to smaller models for everyday use: David Meyer.

United States

White House and Anthropic CEO discuss working together amid Mythos AI fears

The model’s capabilities give it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities – and to ‌exploit them.

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IPO

Manycore, one of Hangzhou’s ‘Six Little Dragons’, surges on Hong Kong IPO debut

The company’s listing highlights its pivot from design tools to advanced AI-driven spatial platforms as it eyes overseas growth.

Manycore Tech is positioning itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the physical world. Photo: Getty Images
Artificial intelligence

Black market workarounds scale up for Claude as Anthropic tightens ID checks

Chinese developers are bypassing new ID checks as demand for Claude remains strong despite official restrictions.

Artificial intelligence

China’s AI world model edge: abundant data and faster deployment, executive says

China’s strong industrial base, abundance of factory data give its world models a decisive push, says executive from leading start-up GigaAI.

Robotics

Video | Humanoid robots to compete in Beijing half-marathon

Test run was held to replicate the official race to be held on April 19.

Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot runs across the finish line while securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, in Beijing, China April, 19 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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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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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
Robotics

Unitree to debut cheapest humanoid robot globally via Alibaba: sources

The international launch of the company’s cheapest humanoid robot next week is expected to cover North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore.

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IPO

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

The spatial design software developer is selling 161 million shares priced between HK$6.72 and HK$7.62 each, with listing set for April 17.

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.

A staff member demonstrates a pair of smart glasses developed by Hangzhou-based Rokid at a store in Yingtan, in east China’s Jiangxi province, on July 10, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
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.

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.

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