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WeChat opens the door to phone-based AI agents, on its own terms

4 mins read

Pulses

Rokid lands Toyota-linked investment

just now
Nikkei Asia
Rokid has received an undisclosed investment from Toyota Tsusho, an affiliate of Toyota, to expand its AI glasses business and explore manufacturing use cases, CEO Zhu Mingming said. The company is in talks with SoftBank and KDDI for Japan distribution and targets JPY 6 billion in local sales this year after a JPY 636 million crowdfunding round.

Lenovo to raise prices in July

just now
IT Zhijia
Lenovo will raise prices across its product lineup starting in July, after its 618 promotional event ends. The company plans to issue formal price adjustment notices to distributors by the end of June, citing broader industry trends that have also led competitors including Dell to raise server and PC prices.

Xiaohongshu launches “skills” feature

just now
IT Zhijia
Xiaohongshu launched its “skills” feature on June 10, allowing creators to embed AI-powered components directly into posts. Users can access the tools without leaving the platform. To qualify for upload and mounting permissions, creators must have at least 1,000 followers, a six-month account history, and verified status.

UBTech robot gets 3,000 preorders

just now
IT Zhijia
UBTech Robotics reported more than 3,000 preorders for its full-size humanoid robot within eight days of the product’s debut on JD.com. The robot, designed for emotional companionship, is limited to adult buyers and is scheduled for release on June 30. Customers can secure a spot in the first batch with a RMB 3,000 deposit.

Tencent plans USD 4.5 billion bond sale

just now
Lianhe Zaobao
Tencent has launched a bond offering of up to USD 4.5 billion, denominated in US dollars and offshore RMB. The issuance, its first USD bond sale since 2021, has attracted more than USD 17 billion in orders. Proceeds will support refinancing and general corporate purposes, including AI product and service development.

Midea continues executive reshuffle

just now
TMTPost
Midea Group is continuing its executive turnover as part of a management strategy aimed at maintaining competitiveness in a saturated market. Recent changes include last month’s departure of vice president and CTO Wei Chang and a 2026 board reshuffle, reflecting the company’s practice of prioritizing performance over tenure.

BrainCo completes IPO counseling

just now
DoNews
BrainCo completed its IPO counseling process on June 9, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The brain-computer interface (BCI) company submitted its filing in February and worked with CITIC Securities to finalize the report. BrainCo holds the largest share of China’s high-end BCI market.

DingTalk VP Ma Ruila resigns

just now
DoNews
Ma Ruila, DingTalk vice president and head of AI products, confirmed that he left the company on May 15. Ma, who joined DingTalk after its 2023 acquisition of his startup Wolai, announced his resignation in a personal post and said he has returned to Shanghai to pursue a new venture.

Moonshot AI seeks USD 2 billion

just now
DoNews
Moonshot AI is seeking USD 2 billion in a new funding round at a target valuation of USD 30 billion. The company plans to use the capital to maintain its position in the LLM market. The round marks its third financing effort in six months.

Midea pauses major acquisitions

just now
TMTPost
Midea will pause major acquisitions for the next three years, with management pledging to return net profits to shareholders. Chairman Fang Hongbo said the company is focusing on internal efficiency and new growth drivers as it moves away from aggressive capital expansion.

Xiaomi launches new MiMo mode

just now
36Kr
Xiaomi launched MiMo-V2.5-Pro-UltraSpeed mode on June 8. The update optimizes the model inference system to reach speeds of 1,000 tokens per second using standard GPUs, without requiring custom chips or sacrificing model performance.

Baidu opposes US military-linked list

just now
Lianhe Zaobao
Baidu said it will take all available measures to be removed from a US list of companies allegedly supporting China’s military. The US Department of Defense updated the list on June 8 to include Baidu, Alibaba, BYD, and others. While the designation does not trigger immediate sanctions, it restricts US military procurement from listed firms.

CATL connects Bulgaria storage project

just now
Jiemian News
CATL and Solarpro have connected a 601 MWh energy storage project in Bulgaria to the grid. The project reportedly increases Bulgaria’s total energy storage capacity by about 15%, supporting the integration of wind and solar power. The companies plan to expand their collaboration over the next two years.

DeepSeek trains model on Ascend 910C

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TMTPost
DeepSeek has trained its DeepSeek-V4-Pro model using Huawei’s Ascend 910C AI computing cluster. The project, conducted by a research team in Shenzhen, is being positioned as evidence that Chinese-made hardware can support large model training.

StepFun plans Hong Kong IPO

just now
TMTPost
StepFun plans to file for a Hong Kong IPO by the end of June. The AI firm recently completed a Series B+ round of more than RMB 5 billion, bringing its total funding to nearly USD 2.5 billion. It aims to become China’s third publicly traded large language model developer, following recent pivots toward agent-based models and partnerships with companies including Geely and Oppo.

CaoCao Mobility plans AI division

just now
IT Zhijia
CaoCao Mobility plans to establish an independent AI division as it seeks to become an AI-native company. The ride-hailing platform has posted a job opening for a chief AI officer to lead its strategy, technical roadmap, and companywide AI integration. The move follows a strong 2025, when CaoCao reported RMB 20.2 billion in revenue.

US adds tech giants to military list

just now
Reuters
The US has added Alibaba, Baidu, and BYD to a list of companies it identifies as aiding China's military development. The update replaces an early 2025 list and includes major technology firms deemed critical to military and industrial development.

Kimi launches desktop agent tool

just now
iFanr
Moonshot AI's Kimi has launched Kimi Work, a desktop application that lets users deploy clusters of AI agents to automate complex workflows. The tool uses an “agent swarm” model for tasks including file organization, browser automation, and financial data analysis, allowing users to coordinate multiple AI agents for professional research and document production.

Chery denies India tech transfer plans

just now
DoNews
Chery said on June 8 that it has no plans for direct investment or technology transfers in India. The company said its partnership with Tata Group is limited to supplying vehicle components, denying media reports about platform licensing or technology exports.

CATL unveils fast-charging EV battery

just now
SCMP
CATL has unveiled a new EV battery said to charge from 10% to 98% in under 6.5 minutes. The technology is aimed at supporting global sales growth for Chinese EV manufacturers.
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