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Manus claims to be the first general-purpose AI agent capable of reliably carrying out tasks autonomously on behalf of users. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Tech Trends

AI agent maker Manus hits US$100 million revenue milestone in 9 months

Manus 1.5, launched in October, boasts improvements in speed and reliability across research and web development tasks.

Holiday rush: Hong Kong IPO market sparkles with busiest December in years

BYD ups the ante on L3 autonomous cars, begins testing for mass production

China Business

Hong Kong stocks tread water as tech giants stumble on AI bubble jitters

Hang Seng Tech Index slides after US equities slump, while investors await inflation report.

The Hang Seng Index falls 0.3 per cent in early trading on Thursday. Photo: Jelly Tse
The Hang Seng Index falls 0.3 per cent in early trading on Thursday. Photo: Jelly Tse

Tech Trends

China cements global lead in smart vacuums as Picea acquires Roomba maker iRobot

Last month, Picea subsidiary Santrum bought about US$191 million of iRobot’s outstanding debt from the investment firm Carlyle Group.

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Tech

AMD chief Lisa Su commits to ‘deeper’ China investments after MIIT meeting

In Beijing on Wednesday, Su exchanged views with MIIT director on ‘strengthening cooperation’ in the digital economy and AI sectors.

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Big Tech

ByteDance pushes frequent updates to Doubao AI as privacy concerns persist

Strong demand for Doubao AI phone eclipses concerns its agent-like functions pose a security risk.

The first smartphone running on ByteDance’s agentic AI phone assistant sold out on the first day, leading to a temporary stock surge for suppliers. Photo: Handout
The first smartphone running on ByteDance’s agentic AI phone assistant sold out on the first day, leading to a temporary stock surge for suppliers. Photo: Handout

Tech Trends

China’s open-source AI models rival US giants, making engagement urgent: report

The report calls on US actors to engage with Chinese firms as the AI landscape continues to evolve.

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Big Tech

Tencent shakes up AI operations, names recent recruit as chief AI scientist

Vinces Yao Shunyu now serves as chief AI scientist under the CEO’s office, reporting directly to Tencent president Martin Lau.

Tech Trends

Memory crunch: China’s Xiaomi and Honor raise tablet prices as chip costs surge

Supplies of memory products for electronic devices squeezed by AI pivot of chipmakers, spurring companies to pass on costs to consumers.

Xiaomi will hike the prices of its Redmi Pad 2 and Xiaomi Pad 8 series. Photo: Shutterstock

China EVs

Xpeng CEO dismisses AI bubble fears, predicts more affordable robots soon

He Xiaoping’s recent trip to the US, where he met more than 30 professionals in the AI field, helped form his conclusions about the industry.

Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng poses for a photograph at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, April 14, 2025. Photo: Sun Yeung
Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng poses for a photograph at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong, April 14, 2025. Photo: Sun Yeung

Tech Trends

Xiaomi launches open-source model to compete against DeepSeek, OpenAI systems

MiMo-V2-Flash ‘particularly excels in reasoning, coding and agentic scenarios’, Xiaomi says.

Companies

OpenAI in talks to raise US$10 billion from Amazon and adopt Trainium chips

The deal is under discussion could value OpenAI upwards of US$500 billion, a source said.

Banking & Finance

HashKey shares debut flat in Hong Kong amid bitcoin bear market

The firm, one of 11 licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong, raised US$206 million in the city’s first crypto-native IPO.

HashKey executives and other exchange and government officials at the gong-striking ceremony to mark the company’s trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday. Photo: Karma Lo

China Business

MetaX stock soars 700% in Shanghai debut as traders snap up Chinese GPU maker

MetaX closes at 829.90 yuan on Wednesday, from its IPO price of 104.66 yuan, after gaining as much as 755 per cent in intraday trading.

People learn about the AI computing power cabinet equipped with MetaX C600 general-purpose GPU chip at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Photo: Getty
People learn about the AI computing power cabinet equipped with MetaX C600 general-purpose GPU chip at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Photo: Getty

China Business

China’s new drug insurance: lifeline for patients or squeeze on big firms?

New insurance formulary trims costs of Alzheimer’s and cancer therapies and marks a small win for global novel drug makers.

Tech

China’s Qwen and DeepSeek edge out US AI models in Christian values benchmark

US start-up Gloo’s Flourishing AI Christian benchmark tested how the output of AI models ‘help people flourish’, CEO Pat Gelsinger said.

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Tech War

How Nexperia saga exposes Europe’s waning influence in US-China chip war

The dispute around the Dutch chipmaker shows the erosion of Europe’s geopolitical neutrality in the face of escalating US-China rivalry.

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Nexperia is caught in a geopolitical tussle between the Netherlands and China. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Nexperia is caught in a geopolitical tussle between the Netherlands and China. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Tech War

China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race

The AI war is increasingly waged among ‘hyperscalers’ – companies with full-stack capabilities across software, hardware and applications.

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Tech War

How Huawei and DeepSeek are tending the garden of China’s AI aspirations

Amid growing AI rivalry with the US, the two companies are leading China’s drive to shake off the nation’s dependence on Nvidia processors.

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Big Tech

Immediate gratification: instant commerce transforms China’s retail market

Instant commerce has developed over a short period of time, as providers expanded their on-demand delivery coverage beyond food.

Illustration: Henry Wong
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China Future Tech
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
China Future Tech

Big Tech

China’s DeepSeek challenges Google DeepMind with new AI model

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A shop advertising DeepSeek in Hong Kong. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Tech Trends

AI agent maker Manus hits US$100 million revenue milestone in 9 months

Manus claims to be the first general-purpose AI agent capable of reliably carrying out tasks autonomously on behalf of users. Photo: Shutterstock Images

China Business

BYD ups the ante on L3 autonomous cars, begins testing for mass production

BYD says it has completed more than 150,000 kilometres of real-world L3 testing. Photo: Xinhua

Tech Trends

China cements global lead in smart vacuums as Picea acquires Roomba maker iRobot

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Roomba robot vacuums for sale in a store in Miami, Florida, December 15, 2025. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Tech

AMD chief Lisa Su commits to ‘deeper’ China investments after MIIT meeting

AMD CEO Lisa Su meets Lenovo executives in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Sina
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MULTIMEDIA
Video

How a Shanghai start-up is digitalising Chinese tea

Safety, verification and trust behind start-up company Teakan Technology’s goal to make traditional Chinese tea digitally traceable
Video

Humanoid robots take centre stage at Shanghai summit

Competitions mainly focused on robotic applications in industrial assembly, home services, flower arranging, healthcare and elderly care, as well as restaurant services
Video

Australia’s under-16 social media ban due to take effect

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Chinese firm unveils new lightweight AI glasses

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