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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.
One of Agibot’s wheeled robots works at a supermarket checkout as the robotics sector reconsiders its business model to make the venture profitable. Photo: Handout
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

Artificial intelligence

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

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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.

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.

Anthropic and the Pentagon have been caught in a dispute over how the company’s models should be used. Photo illustration: Reuters
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.

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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.

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.

EnerVenue, named by Time magazine as one of the top 10 US green technology companies in 2025, has developed processes to lower the total life-cycle costs of energy storage systems. Photo: Handout
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.

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.

An employee assembles robots at the production line during organized media tour to the Robotics Pilot Testing and Validation Platform of Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics (X-Humanoid) in Beijing, China, March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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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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