36Kr Evening News | AI large model product "Qi Qu" completed tens of millions of financing; Jieyue Xingchen launched the Step 3.5 Flash 2603 model; Volvo Cars' global sales in the first quarter decreased by 11% year-on-year
Large Companies:
To enhance the certainty of contract fulfillment, Didi Car Rental has launched a "No Car, Guaranteed Compensation" mechanism. If a customer is unable to use a car due to reasons on the merchant's side, the platform will coordinate to upgrade the car model, or provide a full refund and compensate with three times the daily rental fee. After the implementation of the rule, the car unavailability rate has decreased by 15% compared to the same period. The platform has compensated for more than 300 orders where the reserved car was unavailable. In response to disputes over vehicle damage and unauthorized offline charges, the platform provides free third - party damage assessment and advance compensation. All fees are publicly announced online throughout the process, and payments are collected uniformly. Offline price increases are strictly prohibited, and unauthorized charges will be compensated in advance. As a result, the number of complaints about unauthorized offline charges has decreased by 50%. Currently, over 95% of orders have achieved "no complaints and no disputes".
The Korea Exchange Launches the SIDECAR Mechanism and Suspends Programmatic Selling on KOSDAQ
36Kr learned that the Korea Exchange has launched the SIDECAR mechanism and suspended programmatic selling on KOSDAQ.
Volvo Cars' Global Sales in the First Quarter Decreased by 11% Year - on - Year
Volvo Cars announced on April 2 that its global sales in the first quarter of 2026 were 153,316 units, a year - on - year decrease of 11%. Pure electric vehicles accounted for 23.7% of all vehicle sales, and plug - in hybrid vehicles accounted for 23.6%. In this quarter, electric vehicle sales accounted for 47.3% of all vehicle sales. (Jiemian)
ZeroCloud Launches the "Cloud Lobster" OpenClaw Service
36Kr learned that ZeroCloud has officially launched the "Cloud Lobster" OpenClaw service. It allows for one - click deployment in the cloud and has built - in multi - model combinations. Users do not need to configure any API keys or environmental parameters. For AI model calls, ZeroCloud, based on intelligent scheduling and multi - model routing technology, can automatically match the optimal model according to the complexity of the task. The "Cloud Lobster" does not require complex configuration and can quickly and seamlessly access overseas models such as Codex and Claude. At the same time, it supports one - click access to Feishu, DingTalk, Enterprise WeChat, etc.
Hermès to Open a New Store in Sanlitun, Beijing
36Kr learned that on April 2, Hermès announced that it will open a new store in Sanlitun, Beijing. This is the fourth store that Hermès has opened in the Chinese capital since 1997.
36Kr learned that Hongzai Robotics announced in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that on April 2, the company entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with NVTHK Limited (referred to as "NVTHK"). According to the agreement, the company and NVTHK will jointly develop and implement an RWA (Real - World Assets) financing business model focusing on robots, mainly focusing on the issuance, distribution, and market development of robot RWAs. The board of directors believes that if the potential cooperation under this agreement is implemented, the company will be able to quickly create a comprehensive robot RWA platform, providing RWA tokenization services for the company's robot assets, the robot assets owned by group customers, and other third - party robot assets.
Investment and Financing:
On April 2, TotalEnergies and Masdar, a future energy company in the UAE, signed a binding agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture worth $2.2 billion to integrate their onshore renewable energy businesses in nine Asian countries. After the completion of the transaction, the joint venture will serve as the sole vehicle for both parties to develop, build, own, and operate onshore solar, wind, and energy storage projects in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Uzbekistan. The joint venture will have 3 gigawatts of operating assets and 6 gigawatts of advanced development assets (expected to be put into operation by 2030).
"Unbounded Ark" Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Financing in Succession
36Kr learned that according to the official WeChat account of EC Capital, recently, "Unbounded Ark" has completed two rounds of Pre - A financing, invested by the wearable device brand AfterShokz, as well as Guoruiyuan Fund, Hengsong Capital, and Shanghai Angel Club. The company has completed four rounds of financing in the past year, with a cumulative financing amount of tens of millions of yuan. It is understood that these two rounds of financing will be mainly used for the continuous R & D of the core capabilities of the self - developed AIOS (EVA OS), the iteration of the product matrix, the construction of the developer ecosystem, and the promotion of commercialization. EC Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for Unbounded Ark in these two rounds of financing.
The AI Large - Model Product "Qiqu" Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Financing
36Kr learned that recently, the self - developed AI large - model product "Qiqu" of Singularity Player (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd., an enterprise in the MOVA ecosystem, has completed tens of millions of yuan in financing. This round of financing will be used for the in - depth research of the "Qiqu" native AI base, the operation of the "Qiqu" large - model business, team expansion, and other needs.
New Products:
36Kr learned that Baiyang Pharmaceutical announced that its wholly - owned subsidiary, Baiyang Zhihe, signed a commercial cooperation agreement with Jiluntai and obtained the exclusive commercialization rights of the cooperation drug Technetium [99mTc] Pecitireptide Injection. Recently, the National Medical Products Administration approved the marketing authorization application for this drug, allowing it to be produced and sold. The radioactive drug Technetium [99mTc] Pecitireptide Injection is a radioactive drug targeting integrin. It is the first independently developed Class 1 innovative nuclear medicine drug in China and the world's first broad - spectrum tumor imaging agent for SPECT imaging, solving the bottleneck problem of using SPECT imaging technology for tumor imaging diagnosis, staging, and efficacy monitoring.
StepStar Launches the Step 3.5 Flash 2603 Model
36Kr learned that StepStar has officially launched the new model Step 3.5 Flash 2603. It is understood that StepStar Step 3.5 Flash 2603 is a practical developer model for high - frequency programming and daily Agent workflows, which is continuously optimized based on Step 3.5 Flash. It has been specially enhanced for scenarios such as code generation, debugging, refactoring, and Agent workflows. Step Plan subscribers can directly call the API of this model.
Haiguang Information Officially Discloses the "Endogenous Security" Technology Achievements
36Kr learned that on April 2, at the 2026 Spring Technology Communication Meeting of Haiguang Information, Haiguang officially disclosed a number of new achievements based on the concept of "endogenous security" and launched the annual version of the Haiguang DCU software stack for the first time.
It is reported that the supply - chain pressure caused by the recent sharp rise in the price of memory chips has begun to seriously affect the demand in the smartphone market. MediaTek and Qualcomm are significantly reducing the shipment of 4 - nanometer mobile phone chips, with an estimated reduction of about 15 - 20 million units, equivalent to 20,000 - 30,000 wafers. (Caixin)
Wukong Connects to the Domestic Programming Model Qwen3.6 - Plus
36Kr learned that on April 2, Alibaba officially released the new - generation large - language model Qwen3.6 - Plus, and Alibaba's flagship AI application Wukong in the enterprise - level market has completed the connection.
Today's Views:
36Kr learned that Fosun Pharma announced that the company's board of directors received a written resignation letter from Chen Zhanyu. Due to work arrangement adjustments, Chen Zhanyu applied to the board of directors to resign from the position of chief financial officer, and the resignation took effect on April 2, 2026. After the resignation takes effect, Chen Zhanyu will continue to serve as the senior vice - president of the company. On the same day, upon the nomination of the company's chief executive officer, the board of directors agreed to appoint Huang Zhi as the senior vice - president and chief financial officer of the company, with a term starting from April 2, 2026, until the expiration of the current board of directors' term.
Scientists Achieve Real - World Test of DNA Security Encryption
The French National Center for Scientific Research issued a communiqué on the 1st, saying that its researchers, in cooperation with their peers, have developed a security encryption scheme based on DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and completed a test in a real - world scenario, opening up a new way for communication encryption in sensitive fields such as diplomacy, military, and scientific research. (Xinhua)
Korea Zinc Launches a $7.4 Billion Refinery Construction Project in Tennessee, USA
South Korea Zinc, the world's largest refined zinc smelter, announced on Thursday that it has launched a key metal refinery construction project worth 11 trillion won (about $7.4 billion), located in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA. (Sina Finance)
Other Noteworthy News:
36Kr learned that the State Council has agreed to temporarily adjust and implement relevant administrative regulations in Guangdong Province. It has agreed to temporarily adjust and implement relevant provisions of the "Regulations on Customs Affairs Guarantee of the People's Republic of China" in Guangdong Province as of now, and implement a guarantee - free policy for eligible Macau motor vehicles temporarily entering and exiting other areas of Guangdong Province via the Hengqin Guangdong - Macao In - Depth Cooperation Zone (hereinafter referred to as "Macau single - license plate vehicles going north" in the Hengqin Guangdong - Macao In - Depth Cooperation Zone).
The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on April 2. A reporter asked what measures China would take regarding Meta's acquisition of Manus and related issues about enterprises' cross - border operations. He Yadong, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, responded that the Chinese government supports enterprises to carry out cross - border operations and technological cooperation as needed, and relevant actions need to comply with Chinese laws and regulations and fulfill legal procedures. (Xinhua)