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Future tech
Start-ups
Articles about early-stage companies; pre-IPO, including those still being funded by angel investors, private equity or venture capitalists.
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan visits the booth of a local tech company at VivaTech in Paris, on May 24, 2024. Photo: Handout
China technology

Hong Kong backs start-ups at VivaTech show in push for European market

Local start-ups from HKSTP and Cyberport will appear at the Hong Kong Tech Pavilion at VivaTech from June 11 to 14.

VR and AR

Chinese AR glasses maker Rokid is going global with Alibaba partnership

Robotics

Unitree eyes pre-IPO fundraising, valuing robot maker up to US$2 billion: report

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Robotics

Beijing academy unveils ‘RoboBrain’ AI model for China’s humanoids

The launch comes amid efforts to leverage rapidly advancing AI technology to improve the capability of robots.

Visitors watch a robot performing during the world robot carnival in Wuhan this week. Photo: Xinhua
Fintech

Fintech start-up Syfe bolsters Hong Kong expansion after new funding round

Singapore-based Syfe’s expansion plans reflect the city’s position as the largest hedge fund and cross-border wealth management hub in Asia.

Banking & finance

Opinion | As geopolitics hits venture capital, Asia must start funding its own tech

For all its technical firepower, Asia remains undercapitalised. With funds no longer flowing freely, it needs a financial system that serves its purpose.

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Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek rekindles US venture capital’s interest in China’s AI scene

Thrive Capital and Capital Group have made separate visits to the country to discuss AI with local companies and funds, sources say.

An interactive robot seen at an AI exhibit in an expo in Nanning, Guangxi. Photo: Xinhua
Artificial intelligence

Silicon Valley venture capitalists sit back from investing in AI

Amid sky-high valuations, even major venture capital firms can no longer compete with deep-pocketed backers like SoftBank and Microsoft.

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Robotics

Chinese robotics star Agibot adds JD.com as investor, joining Tencent

After a new funding round, e-commerce giant JD.com holds a 0.75 per cent stake in AgiBot, a high-flying start-up founded by Huawei veterans.

DeepSeek

China’s DeepSeek closes in on US rival OpenAI with upgraded model

Benchmark results cited by DeepSeek show that R1-0528’s performance surpasses Alibaba’s Qwen3 and matches models from OpenAI, Google.

DeepSeek has released more details about its newly upgraded R1 reasoning AI model. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
DeepSeek

DeepSeek’s small update to R1 AI model draws big attention

DeepSeek’s R1-0528 went live on Hugging Face without any documentation or announcements, but benchmark performance has improved.

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A small update to DeepSeek-R1 is causing a splash among AI developers. Photo: Shutterstock
China manufacturing

More than a show: China’s robot fights offer ringside view of tech advancements

China’s humanoid robotic firms are looking to KO the competition, and what they learn in the ring looks to advance the robotics industry by leaps and bounds.

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Robotics

Ready, set, fight: Unitree humanoid robots test skills in kickboxing competition

Unitree fielded four G1 humanoid robots in one-on-one kickboxing matches at an event held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province.

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Robotics

Hong Kong surgical robot start-up Cornerstone takes aim at da Vinci

Company aims to raise US$70 million to develop its systems, which it claims rival the market-leading da Vinci units at lower cost.

A robotic surgical system from start-up Cornerstone Robotics on display at the Leap technology conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 5, 2024. Photo: Matt Haldane
Robotics

Chinese robot firms dazzle at Macau’s Beyond Expo amid AI boom

The significant presence of robotics companies underscores the intense domestic competition in the rapidly growing sector.

Beijing’s Noetix Robotics showcases a robot head at Beyond Expo that can simulate human facial expressions. Photo: Xinmei Shen
Apple

Apple aims to launch smart glasses in 2026 in push into AI devices

The iPhone maker is looking to join the emerging trend of AI-powered devices – an area where it faces fresh competition.

Artificial intelligence

AI hardware start-ups get fresh boost from Shenzhen’s US$1 billion funds

The Shenzhen government has launched funds of 5 billion yuan and 2 billion yuan dedicated to AI and robotics start-ups at the city’s AI expo.

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Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek 2.0? Shanghai quant fund claims AI training breakthrough

Goku says in a paper submitted to the ‘AI Olympics’ that its training method is superior to those adopted by DeepSeek, OpenAI.

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Shanghai Goku Technologies, a quantitative fund, has established an AI subsidiary, following the path of Hangzhou-based DeepSeek. Photo: Screenshot
Artificial intelligence

OpenAI buys iPhone designer Jony Ive’s secretive hardware start-up

The ChatGPT maker wants its own hardware platform to avoid selling software through Apple iOS or Google’s Android, analysts say.

Artificial intelligence

Meet Chinese start-up Xreal, Google’s partner in AR glasses project

Project Aura provides a big boost to Xreal’s credentials in the smart glasses arena, while widening its reach in the international market.

Biomedicine: Companies

Chinese biotech firm secures Pfizer deal despite trade tensions

Pfizer will produce the drug, which targets lung and colorectal cancers, in the US and take a US$100 million stake in China’s 3SBio.

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3SBio was established in 1993 with an initial focus on interferons, a type of protein that helps the immune system. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

China accuses ‘AI tigers’ Zhipu, Moonshot of collecting excessive data

Zhipu’s ChatGLM and Moonshot’s Kimi have a combined total of nearly 35 million monthly active users.

Zhipu AI CEO Zhang Peng speaks on stage during the company’s developers’ day in Beijing in January 2024. Photo: Sohu/AGI元年
Artificial intelligence

Alibaba and DeepSeek’s home province aims to become AI hub through big spending

A new plan from the Zhejiang government will see billions of yuan spent through 2027 to support AI companies and attract ‘top talent’.

Robotics

China’s industrial robot output soars, as Unitree and UBTech take lead

Production of industrial robots in April outpaced increases seen in earlier months amid national enthusiasm around the technology.

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Artificial intelligence

Hong Kong healthcare investor looks for biotech’s ‘DeepSeek moment’ in China

ORI Capital is planning a US$350 million fund to focus on Chinese biotech, with hopes that AI will help beat the market.

ORI Capital founder Simone Song Hong Fang, pictured at her Sun Hung Kai Centre office in Wan Chai on April 17, 2021, sees a big opportunity in biotechnology. Photo: Jonathan Wong
DeepSeek

DeepSeek offers new details on using 2,048 Nvidia chips to train its V3 model

In a paper co-authored by founder Liang Wenfeng, the start-up attributes its success to a hardware-software co-design approach.

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In a paper co-authored by founder Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek elaborated on some of the technology behind its foundational V3 model. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

Chinese AI stalwart Zhipu eyes expansion on back of Belt and Road Initiative

Zhipu AI’s plan reflects intensifying efforts by both Chinese and US companies to widen the global adoption of their AI systems.

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba pushes global adoption of Qwen3 AI models via more developer platforms

The Qwen3 family of AI models can now be deployed via large language model platforms Ollama, LM Studio, SGLang and vLLM.

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