China's language learning model market is estimated to grow to 101.1 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan (WANG Zhao) Leading Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu AI soared as it went public in Hong Kong on Thursday, a day before rival MiniMax also makes its market debut in a litmus test for the country's rapidly developing sector. Shares in ...
China's language learning model market is estimated to grow to 101.1 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan (WANG Zhao) Leading Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu AI soared as it went public in Hong Kong on Thursday, a day before rival MiniMax also makes its market debut in a litmus test for the country's rapidly developing sector. Shares in Zhipu AI, which runs the Z.ai tool, rallied as much as 11.8 percent in early trade after its oversubscribed initial public offering raised HK$4.35 billion (US$558 million). This week's flotations come before any IPO announcements from top US startups OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic, known for its Claude chatbot. But analysts said profits were unlikely any time soon from either company -- the first two IPOs among China's so-called "six tigers", generative AI providers competing with tech giants such as Alibaba and ByteDance. "Zhipu is honoured to stand at this historic juncture as a representative of China's large model sector," company chairman Liu Debing said at Thursday's listing ceremony. Zhipu AI was founded in 2019 and is a major provider of large language model (LLM) services to businesses and government clients in the world's second-largest economy. Proceeds from the IPO will go towards developing general-purpose large AI models, including key algorithms and system infrastructure, the firm said. MiniMax, established in 2022, targets the consumer market, particularly outside China, with its generative AI tools for speech, music and video, as well as text. China tech analyst Poe Zhao, founder of the Hello China Tech newsletter, told AFP that the two IPOs "demonstrate both the revenue potential and the fundamental challenges facing this new generation of LLM companies". "The high demand definitely reflects broader optimism about Chinese AI," he said. An AI boom has helped push tech stocks to record highs in recent months, but they are also volatile as global...
STORY: :: Lucid A new robotaxi design was unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It's the product of a partnership between Uber, EV-maker Lucid, and autonomous vehicle technology firm Nuro. And it joins a growing list of U.S. contenders from companies including Waymo and Tesla. :: Carbon Shift The vehicle is built on Lucid's Gravity electric SUV. It has a roof-mounted sens...
STORY: :: Lucid A new robotaxi design was unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It's the product of a partnership between Uber, EV-maker Lucid, and autonomous vehicle technology firm Nuro. And it joins a growing list of U.S. contenders from companies including Waymo and Tesla. :: Carbon Shift The vehicle is built on Lucid's Gravity electric SUV. It has a roof-mounted sensor ring with cameras, lidar and radar for full 360-degree coverage. :: Lucid Uber created the inside experience, with touch screens that let passengers adjust the temperature, seats and entertainment. The robotaxi uses Nvidia's AI driving hardware. And it's driven by Nuro's autonomous tech, meaning it can drive itself in certain conditions without a human. On-road testing began in December, using engineering prototypes with a safety operator. David Salguero is Nuro's head of communications. :: David Salguero, Head of Communications, Nuro "We use an AI autonomy foundation model that basically learns as it goes along. So as we're driving, as we are testing, both on road and in simulations, it gets better and better at driving. So that means we can really quickly deploy it into new places, put it on new types of vehicles for logistics or for robotaxis or even maybe some day for personally owned vehicles. For Lucid, the robotaxi offers growth beyond regular electric cars for consumers. The company has been battling slower EV demand and mounting competition. It recently reported 2025 deliveries slightly above estimates, but production was much higher than sales. Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff says the plan is to tap new markets. :: Marc Winterhoff, CEO of Lucid Group "Before, we were focusing on B2C customers, you know, the regular cars for you and me, which we still do obviously. But now with that cooperation with Uber and others to come, we're now opening the robotaxi market for us. So it's more like expanding the application of our EV technology which has been proven in the last c...
Key Points Oracle's earnings report led to worries about the neocloud subsector. Micron countered with strong results. Nebius got a bullish upgrade to start the year. 10 stocks we like better than Nebius Group › Shares of Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) were sliding last month even though there was no company-specific news out on the stock. Instead, AI infrastructure stocks like Nebius fell broadly af...
Key Points Oracle's earnings report led to worries about the neocloud subsector. Micron countered with strong results. Nebius got a bullish upgrade to start the year. 10 stocks we like better than Nebius Group › Shares of Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) were sliding last month even though there was no company-specific news out on the stock. Instead, AI infrastructure stocks like Nebius fell broadly after Oracle reported disappointing results in its first-quarter earnings report. The results and its guidance cast doubt on the momentum in the "neocloud" sector, which includes stocks like CoreWeave and Nebius. Oracle has also seen demand for its cloud infrastructure skyrocket, and it's now seen as a bellwether in the AI subsector. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Largely because of those headwinds, Nebius finished the month down 11%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The chart below shows how the stock moved over the course of the month. What happened with Nebius last month Nebius had been volatile all year, so it's not surprising to see that pattern continue into December. The company is growing quickly, but also deeply unprofitable, and its business model, which involves buying GPUs and renting them out, is inherently risky due in part to the depreciation of those chips and the debt involved in the buildout, as the company is borrowing money to fund its expansion and capital expenditures. Nebius stock fell in the days after Oracle's earnings report, losing 19% over a week. Oracle dropped as the company missed revenue estimates and its capital expenditures soared, jumping to $12 billion, while analysts had expected $8.25 billion. Nebius rebounded following that slide as investors were reassured about the AI boom after Micron posted strong results and guidance in its earnings report, showing that demand for high-bandwidth memory chips for AI is strong ...
China is starting the year with a record clip of government bond issuance, rattling a market where demand is already weak. The nation has announced plans to issue 522 billion yuan ($74.6 billion) of bonds in three auctions between January 1 to 15. That would be the highest amount for a half-monthly period, Bloomberg calculations show. The rising debt supply is set to dilute demand for debt at a ti...
China is starting the year with a record clip of government bond issuance, rattling a market where demand is already weak. The nation has announced plans to issue 522 billion yuan ($74.6 billion) of bonds in three auctions between January 1 to 15. That would be the highest amount for a half-monthly period, Bloomberg calculations show. The rising debt supply is set to dilute demand for debt at a time when investors are already shunning low yields offered by Chinese bonds in favor of stocks . Expectations that deflation pressures will ease as well as the People’s Bank of China’s reluctance to cut interest rates are adding to headwinds for the bond market. “The acceleration of bond issuance, along with a significant increase in individual auctions, has contributed to recent market adjustments as traders worry about supply risk and upside for proactive fiscal measures,” Yang Yewei , analyst at Guosheng Securities, wrote in a note. Bond yields have jumped since the start of 2026, with the 10-year yield approaching its highest level since December 2024 . That’s after the 30-year yield rose to the highest in over a year. A record-breaking sale of short-term debt has added to market jitters. On Wednesday, China’s finance ministry issued 175 billion of two-year notes , which was its largest for the tenor. Yields on the bonds jumped four basis points in the last session, the most since September. The move followed notes being sold at higher yields than in the previous two auctions. Traders are now waiting to gauge demand at a 180 billion yuan auction of 10-year bonds on Friday, which would also be a record offering size for the benchmark bond. Beyond central government debt, the market also faces supply pressure from local administrations, which have kicked off bond issuance early this year to support major construction projects. The annual debt issuance quota for central and local governments will be approved by the National People’s Congress in March. Becky Liu , head of Ch...
China has vowed to achieve “safe and reliable supply” in key artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027 as the global race for frontier technologies and applications heats up. A plan published on Wednesday by eight government agencies, led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, listed the main areas of work to reach the goal, including promoting the deep application of thre...
China has vowed to achieve “safe and reliable supply” in key artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027 as the global race for frontier technologies and applications heats up. A plan published on Wednesday by eight government agencies, led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, listed the main areas of work to reach the goal, including promoting the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in the manufacturing sector. “By 2027, China’s key core artificial intelligence technologies will achieve a secure and reliable supply, with the scale of the industry and its empowerment capabilities ranking among the world’s leading levels,” the special action plan focused on promoting the use of AI in manufacturing said. Advertisement It also aims to form industry-specific large models with broad coverage and distinctive features, building 100 high-quality data sets for industrial domains and promoting 500 typical application scenarios. The AI race between the US and China is accelerating. Chinese AI champion DeepSeek published a technical paper on the last day of 2025 that highlighted a general framework for training artificial intelligence systems at scale and suggested “promising directions for the evolution of foundational models”.
Happy new year, and welcome back to Hong Kong Edition. In this week’s newsletter, we look ahead to what 2026 has in store, from Blackpink at Kai Tak to the giant new Louis Vuitton store in K11 Musea. We also speak to a filmmaker who examines the duality of the Hong Kong diaspora. And for the Review, we scope out the swanky new bar at the top of the Henderson. To subscribe to this weekly newsletter...
Happy new year, and welcome back to Hong Kong Edition. In this week’s newsletter, we look ahead to what 2026 has in store, from Blackpink at Kai Tak to the giant new Louis Vuitton store in K11 Musea. We also speak to a filmmaker who examines the duality of the Hong Kong diaspora. And for the Review, we scope out the swanky new bar at the top of the Henderson. To subscribe to this weekly newsletter for free, click here . Cheers to 2026 Hong Kong didn’t ring in 2026 with fireworks , but there’s plenty to be excited about in the year ahead. Just one week in, there are already strong signs of an exceptional spell for markets and plenty going on in dining, shopping, travel and more. Here are some of the things we’re looking forward to in 2026. Hang Seng Record 31,300. That’s the implied year-end level for the Hang Seng Index based on consensus share-price targets for the gauge’s nearly 90 stocks. If analysts are correct, that would be an annual gain of about 22%. It would also put the benchmark within 6% of its all-time high of 33,154 in 2018. If that sounds too optimistic, it’s actually not. The Hang Seng Index has had 25 positive years since 1986 and with an average gain of 27%. So, a typical up year would mean a fresh record by the end of 2026. If that happens, you might see me around in a Chewbacca costume . — David Ingles Banner Year in Fundraising Hong Kong is expecting another blockbuster year in maiden share sales, building on a surge last year that pushed the Asian financial hub to the global forefront. KPMG estimates that listings in the city may raise as much as $45 billion in 2026, which would be the biggest haul in six years. Long-dormant IPOs like those of health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group and Chinese-owned agricultural tech firm Syngenta are coming back to life. China’s AI darlings will also fill the IPO pipeline, at a time when Beijing is pushing to reduce its reliance on foreign technology by developing its own. — Dave Sebastian Big Acts in Yo...
The Saudi bombing of an arms shipment reportedly provided by the UAE to separatists in southern Yemen last week has exposed the two Arab heavyweights’ divergent foreign policy approaches in the strategically important Red Sea and Horn of Africa, according to analysts. An emergence of two competing camps led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE could undermine US efforts to tap its two long-standing allies ...
The Saudi bombing of an arms shipment reportedly provided by the UAE to separatists in southern Yemen last week has exposed the two Arab heavyweights’ divergent foreign policy approaches in the strategically important Red Sea and Horn of Africa, according to analysts. An emergence of two competing camps led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE could undermine US efforts to tap its two long-standing allies as part of a new Middle Eastern security and economic architecture, following the weakening of the Iran -led Axis of Resistance during the Israel-Gaza war Advertisement According to Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, a major division appears to be emerging between some states that aim to anchor regional stability through “functioning” countries and others that view the existing state system as “chronically weak” and hence require their intervention through proxy groups. For the latter, Ulrichsen cited the UAE’s support for armed non-state groups in Yemen and Sudan and the breakaway Libyan National Army (LNA) regime in eastern Libya , and Israel ’s recent recognition of Somaliland as a new state bordering Somalia – the first country in the world to do so. Advertisement “There now seems to be a fundamental misalignment between the Saudi and Emirati visions of regional order and willingness to take or tolerate geopolitical risk,” Ulrichsen told This Week In Asia.
JD.com Inc. is considering its first dim sum bond sale, with a potential offering that could raise about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), according to people familiar with the matter, joining a slew of Chinese e-commerce companies looking to lock in cheap funding as competition intensifies. The offshore yuan-denominated notes would mature within 10 years, the people said, asking not to be identifie...
JD.com Inc. is considering its first dim sum bond sale, with a potential offering that could raise about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion), according to people familiar with the matter, joining a slew of Chinese e-commerce companies looking to lock in cheap funding as competition intensifies. The offshore yuan-denominated notes would mature within 10 years, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. JD’s considerations are preliminary and may change, while details including timing of the potential offering haven’t been decided, the people added. A JD.com media representative said in response to a Bloomberg inquiry that the company has no plans to issue such bonds at this stage and “does not comment on market rumors or speculation.” E-commerce companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Meituan have been piling into the dim sum bond market to help finance their business expansions as a price war rages in China’s food delivery sector. Many Chinese tech companies are also turning to the offshore bond market for funding to help drive their pivot toward artificial intelligence. Dim sum bonds are attractive to some Chinese tech firms because of their lower financing costs. Three-year dollar bonds issued by Chinese investment-grade firms carried an average coupon of around 5.1% last year, while comparable yuan-denominated bonds offered yields of around 3.8%, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. In October, Meituan priced about 7 billion yuan of dim sum bonds. That followed similar offerings by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Baidu Inc. , which together sold 23.4 billion yuan of offshore yuan bonds last year, the largest tally for the sector ever. Alibaba, meanwhile, priced 17 billion yuan of offshore yuan debt in late 2024. TikTok peer Kuaishou Technology , which has made strides into the field of AI-generated video, is also considering a maiden offshore bond sale, and is working with investment banks on a potential deal. Separately, JD.com has als...