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Opinion | Back Hong Kong’s tech hub bet with more funding and focus

Despite Hong Kong’s academic and research prowess, government support for innovation has historically been lower than in Singapore and Shenzhen.

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Hong Kong tycoon Peter Lee looks for good karma in green investments

Moonshot AI updates Kimi chatbot to offer capabilities akin to OpenAI o1

OpenAI accuses Elon Musk of harassment over his ‘altruism versus greed’ lawsuit

The lawsuit has not dampened investors’ interest in OpenAI, which recently raised US$6.6 billion at a US$157 billion valuation.

OpenAI claims Elon Musk’s lawsuit is part of an “increasingly blusterous campaign to harass” the Microsoft-backed start-up. Photo: Shutterstock

ChatGPT developer OpenAI to open Singapore office

Singapore now serves as the Asia hub for several major US internet firms, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc.

Shein’s UK sales hit US$2 billion last year as it eyes London IPO

The fast-fashion giant is set to hold informal investor meetings in the coming weeks for a planned London listing, sources say.

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Hong Kong’s MindWorks defies private capital slump with new start-up fund

MindWorks closed a US$220 million fund, with backing from sovereign wealth funds, a university endowment, and ‘new economy entrepreneurs’.

General view of high-rise buildings in Central district, Hong Kong, February 22, 2024. Photo: Sun Yeung

Singapore, South Korea to deepen AI, start-up cooperation as strategic partners

The two nations also agreed to cooperate on liquefied natural gas supplies during a visit to the city state by South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol.

Can robot baristas save Shanghai’s cafes from an ailing economy?

Shanghai Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology aims to cut down the costs of operating coffee shops to revive the industry, says founder Philip Han.

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Chinese start-up Numemory claims memory chip breakthrough amid US sanctions

The Wuhan-based firm recently introduced to the domestic market its 64-gigabyte NM101, a type of storage-class memory chip.

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Numemory’s new product shows how Chinese memory chip companies continue to push advances in technology, despite US sanctions. Photo: Shutterstock

Sam Altman could get 7% stake if OpenAI shifts to for-profit model

OpenAI is considering these changes against the backdrop of an exodus of senior managers, including Mira Murati.

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Sam Altman, right, CEO of OpenAI, and Mira Murati, chief technology officer. Murati announced on Wednesday she is leaving the company. Photo: AP Photo

How Alibaba helps enable China’s AI industry through its Apsara Conference

Alibaba is emerging as a major enabler and funder of China’s AI industry, as witnessed by the company’s annual Apsara Conference that concluded on Saturday.

China’s AI start-ups eye fresh opportunities after OpenAI previews latest LLM

The ChatGPT creator’s new OpenAI o1 LLM is designed ‘to reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models’.

Alibaba CEO eyes greater AI research and development, open sources 100 new LLMs

Alibaba Cloud on Thursday also launched a new text-to-video model, as CEO Eddie Wu reveals increased pace of AI development at Apsara event.

Alibaba Cloud aims to establish “an AI infrastructure of the future” to serve customers worldwide. Photo: Shutterstock

Start-up funding in China remains weak, but may see a recovery this year

Funding for start-ups in China remains at a low point, although the amount raised in the first half is already more than 50 per cent of 2023’s total, suggesting a potential recovery.

Dollar-based funding for start-ups in China accounted for only 2.5 per cent of the total in the first half of 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Chinese AI start-up hails ‘important improvement’ in OpenAI’s newest model

LLM developers have run out of organic data to train models, so they are turning to reinforcement learning to generate more data.

AI pioneer Li Feifei raises US$230 million for new start-up

The new venture on 3D spaces counts venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, as well as actor Ashton Kutcher and Google’s Eric Schmidt as investors.

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HKIC makes strategic investments in biotech, clean energy and health

The three start-ups have opened offices in Hong Kong to leverage the city’s talent and research prowess.

Clara Chan, CEO of HKIC, speaking at the inaugural Hong Kong Start-up Investment and Development Summit on September 13, 2024. Photo: Handout

US-sanctioned Chinese AI chip champion Biren plans IPO

The Shanghai-based unicorn, seen as a potential Nvidia competitor on the mainland, has begun its IPO tutoring process.

OpenAI valuation to reach US$150 billion in latest fundraising round

The US start-up is also in talks to raise US$5 billion in debt from banks in the form of a revolving credit facility, a source says.

Shengshu AI says its Sora-like text-to-video tool will bring down production costs

The Beijing-based start-up held an event dedicated to a feature in its Vidu tool that maintains consistency of subjects across clips.

Shengshu AI co-founder and CEO Tang Jiayu held an event showcasing how his company’s text-to-video tool Vidu can help streamline video production. Photo: Ben Jiang

UAE, Saudi officials call for Hong Kong businesses to list, expand in Middle East

Hong Kong tycoon Victor Fung also says region can be a ‘launching pad’ for local businesses at forum attended by Middle Eastern leaders.

The Hong Kong Ambassadors Club has organised seven business delegations to the Middle East, visiting places such as Dubai (pictured) and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s chip industry becomes key breeding ground for unicorns

As start-up funding dwindles, investments are concentrated in a few unicorns, such as those in the integrated circuit sector.

China’s ex-financial regulator urges easing to boost market growth

The capital market fares better than banks in supporting start-ups and promising technology firms, Shang Fulin tells the Bund Summit financial forum.

Chinese unicorn Zhipu AI raises new funding from state-backed investor

State-backed investment vehicle Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development estimates Zhipu AI’s value at around US$2.8 billion.

A crowd gathers at Zhipu AI’s exhibition space during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Photo: Zhipu AI

TikTok owner ByteDance offers more generous employee share buy-back

The firm’s latest repurchase programme, initially open to US employees, priced the vested restricted stock units at U$181 per share.

ByteDance has conducted employee share buy-backs since 2017 to ensure more liquidity and as a means to motivate staff. Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong-based AI fashion start-up eyes mainland, South Korea markets

Fashion tech start-up to get a strategic investment partner to help fund its expansion plan. Money will be used to add more features and enhancements to its AiDA software, CEO Kim Wong says.

Chinese AI ‘tiger’ MiniMax launches text-to-video-generating model

Video-01 is the first iteration of the firm’s Sora-like tool, with future updates expected to enable users to generate videos from images.

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Start-ups
Articles about early-stage companies; pre-IPO, including those still being funded by angel investors, private equity or venture capitalists.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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