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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is co-founding Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup positioned to rival Elon Musk’s Neuralink. OpenAI is backing the v…

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<a href="/company/openai">OpenAI</a> CEO Sam Altman is co-founding Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup positioned to rival Elon Musk’s Neuralink. OpenAI is backing the venture through a USD 250 million fundraise at an USD 850 million valuation. The company aims to build high-bandwidth brain interfaces. Altman will not hold an operational role.

<a href="/company/shein">Shein’s</a> UK sales rose 32.3% in 2024 to GBP 2.05 billion, with pretax profit up 56.6% to GBP 38.25 million, a filing shows. Britain is its third largest market after the US and Germany. The retailer, which is preparing for a Hong Kong IPO, could face higher costs as low-value import duty exemptions are removed in key regions.

<a href="/company/xpeng">Xpeng Motors</a> and Volkswagen have expanded their electrical and electronic architecture collaboration beyond <a href="/industry/ev">EVs</a> to include ICE and PHEV platforms in China. The companies said the move will enable faster updates, shorten development cycles, and deliver economies of scale while enhancing competitiveness in <a href="/collections/china-automobile">China’s automotive market</a>.

China’s cosmetics exports rose 12% YoY in H1 2025 to RMB 18.7 billion, with the US, UK, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Japan as top destinations, according to customs data. Euromonitor data was cited as showing a 115% CAGR for Chinese brands in Southeast Asia’s mass skincare market from 2019–2024, driven by cost-effectiveness and platforms such as <a href="/company/shopee">Shopee</a>, <a href="/company/lazada">Lazada</a>, and <a href="/company/tiktok">TikTok</a>.

<a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> has released Accio Agent, an <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a>-driven tool it said is intended to automate up to 70% of product sourcing and development tasks. Built on its Qwen model and trained on one billion product listings and 50 million supplier profiles, the system can reportedly generate designs, market insights, and compliance advice within minutes.

<a href="/company/geely">Geely’s</a> Zeekr posted an operating profit of RMB 285 million in Q2 2025, swinging from a loss a year earlier, as vehicle margin rose to 17.3% from 11.5%. Deliveries rose 9.3% YoY to 130,866 units, aided by cost cuts, while vehicle sales increased 2.2% to RMB 22.92 billion. The company launched its Zeekr 9X plug-in hybrid SUV and is focusing on new models and overseas expansion.

<a href="/company.jd">JD.com’s</a> Q2 2025 revenue rose 22.4% YoY to RMB 356.7 billion, with JD Retail up 20.6% and operating margin reaching 4.5%, a record for a promotion quarter. Net profit dropped 51% to RMB 6.2 billion as higher investment in new businesses, including food delivery, increased costs.

<a href="/company/bytedance">ByteDance’s</a> Hongguo app reached 212 million monthly active users in June 2025, up 179% YoY and surpassing Youku for the first time. The short drama platform, China’s most downloaded app in May, is adding paid memberships, expanding content formats, and exploring overseas markets.

Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) reported Q2 2025 revenue of TWD 1.79 trillion, up 16% YoY, while net profit rose 27% to TWD 44.4 billion, both record highs for the period. <a href="/industry/ai">AI</a> server sales climbed over 60% YoY, with Q3 revenue from the segment projected to grow more than 170%. The company maintained its full-year growth outlook on sustained AI demand.

AliExpress has expanded its overseas fulfillment service to Mexico, enabling merchants to store goods locally and gain homepage promotion. Already available in the US, UK, Spain, Germany, and Poland, the program aims to shorten delivery times and enhance merchant visibility.

<a href="/company/deepseek">DeepSeek</a> has reportedly delayed its R2 model launch after unsuccessful training runs on <a href="/company/huawei">Huawei’s</a> Ascend chips, opting to use <a href="/company/nvidia">Nvidia</a> hardware while continuing to use Ascend for inference. The delay highlighted China’s chip performance gap with US rivals, slowed market momentum, and was compounded by extended data labelling.

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Participants must create at least 70% of their films using Veo 3 or Seedance 1.0 Pro.

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By building for overlooked niches in the fitness industry, Aeke now ships hundreds of units each month.

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Describing VLA models as “relatively dumb,” he outlined an alternative approach to embodied intelligence.

OpenAI, Altman back Merge Labs

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