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Chinese AI and chipmaking firms, including Huawei and Tencent-backed StepFun, have formed an alliance to promote domestic processors, as regulators in…

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Chinese <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> and chipmaking firms, including <a href="/company/huawei">Huawei</a> and <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a>-backed StepFun, have formed an alliance to promote domestic processors, as regulators investigate <a href="/company/nvidia">Nvidia’s</a> H20 chips over security risks. The move aligns with Beijing’s broader push for tech self-reliance amid ongoing US export controls.

<a href="/company/nvidia">Nvidia</a> has denied that its H20 chips contain any “backdoors,” after Chinese regulators summoned the company to address national security concerns. The scrutiny follows reports of potential tracking features and comes as Nvidia prepares to resume shipments of the <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> chips to China.

Starbucks has shortlisted about a dozen firms, including KKR, Boyu, <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a>, and <a href="/company/tencent">Tencent</a>, to explore investing in its China business, sources said. CEO Brian Niccol said the goal is to expand stores and strengthen local operations, while retaining a meaningful stake. No deal has been finalized.

<a href="/company/meituan">Meituan</a> and <a href="/company/jd">JD.com</a> are expanding China’s food delivery war into restaurant infrastructure, with Meituan planning 1,200 “Raccoon Canteen” outlets and JD.com investing RMB 1 billion to build 10,000 kitchens under its 7Fresh brand. The strategy aims to accelerate delivery and tighten platform control over the food supply chain.

Manus is rolling out “Wide Research,” a premium feature that les users assign tasks to multiple <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> agents in parallel, according to sources. Priced at USD 199 per month, it reportedly handles large-scale queries such as stock screening and academic rankings, marking the startup’s most significant update since its March platform launch.

<a href="/company/openai">OpenAI</a> has reportedly reached an annualized revenue run rate of USD 12 billion, fueled by widespread adoption of its ChatGPT products across consumer and enterprise markets. The platform now serves about 700 million weekly users as the company expands operations and seeks additional funding.

<a href="/company/bytedance">ByteDance’s</a> Seed team has introduced Seed Diffusion Preview, a discrete diffusion language model built for structured code tasks. Processing at 2,146 tokens per second, it is said to deliver 5.4 times faster inference than comparable autoregressive models while maintaining similar benchmark accuracy. The model combines edit-based training, constrained decoding, and on-policy learning to advance diffusion toward scalable real-world applications.

Autohome reported Q2 2025 revenue of RMB 1.76 billion and adjusted net profit of RMB 476 million. It expanded its online-to-offline and <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a>-driven offerings, launched a global site featuring Chinese vehicle models, and increased <a href="/industry/ev">EV</a>-related and live stream content output. Its retail network reportedly exceeded 200 locations as it scaled ecosystem coverage and international presence.

<a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba's</a> Amap app has launched ride-hailing services in 24 countries across Europe and Asia, including major cities like Paris and London. Partnering with Bolt, the service lets users in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau hail rides overseas without changing apps or SIM cards.

WeRide reported Q2 2025 revenue of USD 17.8 million, a 60.8% YoY rise, with robotaxi earnings surging 836.7% to USD 6.4 million. Robotaxis accounted for 36.1% of total revenue. In Abu Dhabi, its fleet size has reportedly tripled since December 2024, reinforcing its lead outside the US and China.

Grab reported Q2 2025 net profit of USD 20 million, up USD 89 million YoY, as revenue rose 23% to USD 819 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased to USD 109 million, marking the 14th consecutive quarterly gain. On-demand GMV grew 21% to USD 5.4 billion, with all core segments posting double-digit revenue growth.

Companies are buying rivals and tapping into e-commerce to gain market share.

Chinese consumer brands surge in Southeast Asia, challenge legacy names

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