Krypton Evening News | LG Energy Solution will supply batteries for Google's largest solar-storage integrated project; Yuanbao has officially connected to JD's AI Agent mini-program ecosystem; Japanese retail investors' net short position in the US dollar has soared to 2.79 trillion yen, hitting a record high since 2008
Big Companies:
Meituan, Qingju, and Hello Raise Shared Bicycle Pricing
Recently, Meituan Bike, Didi Qingju, and Hello Bike have successively adjusted their billing rules in multiple cities including Beijing. The three platforms have all adopted the combined strategy of "raising the starting fare and extending the basic riding duration": the starting price, which was previously around 1.5 yuan for 30 minutes, has been generally adjusted to 1.88 yuan to 1.99 yuan for 60 minutes. This marks one of the largest collective price adjustments in the shared bicycle industry in recent years. (Financial Times)
Guazi Used Cars' First Offline Direct Sales Store Officially Opens Today
36Kr has learned that the first offline direct sales store of Guazi Used Cars, the Suzhou Direct Sales Store, officially opens today. According to introductions, Guazi's return to offline operations this time focuses on 100% direct-sold personal used car sources. At present, Guazi has simultaneously launched similar stores in Shenyang, Jinan and other cities, and is pushing for nationwide rollout.
LG Energy Solution to Supply Batteries for Google's Largest Solar-Storage Integrated Project
According to industry insiders revealed on Wednesday, South Korea's LG Energy Solution will supply batteries for Google's largest solar and energy storage project. This move marks the company's further expansion into the energy infrastructure business related to the surging power demand of AI data centers. Google and renewable energy developer Cypress Creek Energy jointly announced the "Steel River Energy Center" project in Arkansas. The project will initially be equipped with 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of solar power generation capacity and approximately 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery energy storage system; by 2029, the scale will expand to 2.5 GW of solar power generation and 2.9 GWh of energy storage capacity. It is expected that LG Energy Solution will supply its JF2 DC Link system produced in North America, which uses lithium iron phosphate battery technology. According to estimates from sources, the order is worth hundreds of billions of won. (Sina Finance)
Weimob's AI Sales Digital Employee Weimob Xingtuo Launches Internal Beta Test
36Kr has learned that on July 15, Weimob Group announced that Weimob Xingtuo, its AI sales digital employee for B2B scenarios, has officially launched the internal beta test. This product covers the full link of "user instruction → intent analysis → strategy generation → automatic customer search → intelligent outbound call → intention WeChat addition". Sales personnel only need to issue an instruction in natural language once, and the AI digital employee will independently complete the subsequent work and directly deliver potential customers to the sales team.
Yuanbao and JD AI Agent Officially Connect to Mini Program Ecosystem
36Kr has learned that on July 15, Tencent announced that Yuanbao and JD AI Agent have completed the interconnection of the mini program ecosystem. JD AI Agent is the first e-commerce vertical partner to access Yuanbao. Based on the interconnection of the two ecosystems, Yuanbao can provide users with more timely and accurate information feedback, while JD relies on its supply chain and e-commerce service system to provide users with services such as product recommendation, fulfillment, and after-sales support.
NIO has become a strategic investor in Changxin Technology, with a promised subscription amount of 158 million yuan and a lock-up period of 18 months. The two sides will carry out strategic cooperation on existing automotive-grade LPDDR4X and LPDDR5X products, committed to building a stable and trustworthy strategic supply relationship. (Securities Times)
Bayer Signs Hybrid Wheat Licensing Agreement with RAGT
On July 15, Bayer released a statement saying that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with European wheat seed company RAGT, aiming to expand the sales of hybrid wheat seeds in Europe and North America simultaneously by the early 2030s. The agreement covers the licensing of wheat germplasm resources customized for the European environment. Bayer stated that its goal is to achieve an annual revenue of up to 1 billion euros from hybrid wheat by the mid-2040s. (Jiemian)
Financing and Investment:
Recently, embodied intelligence enterprise "DexRobot" announced that it has completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A financing. This round is strategically invested by Shanghai Electric, with continuous increases from industrial capital and financial capital. Within 2026, the company has successively completed two rounds of financing, the angel round and the Series A round. The raised funds will be mainly used for the full-stack technology R&D of dexterous operation, core product iteration, implementation in three scenarios of education, electric power and industry, and industrial ecosystem construction. In addition, Shanghai Electric's subsidiary Shanghai Electrical Machinery and DexRobot have simultaneously established two joint ventures — Lingji Yidong and Lingji Zhilian, with a total registered capital exceeding 100 million yuan, focusing on the mass production of core components and industrial scenario solutions respectively, marking that the company has moved from technology R&D to the stage of large-scale industrial delivery.
"Wall Intelligence" Completes New Round of Financing, Valuation Exceeds 200 Billion Yuan
36Kr has learned that Wall Intelligence has completed a new round of financing, with investors including national-level funds, central state-owned enterprises, automobile manufacturers and other industrial parties, as well as financial investors. So far, Wall Intelligence's total financing amount in the first half of 2026 has exceeded 50 billion yuan, with a valuation of over 200 billion yuan, making it the unicorn with the highest public valuation in the edge-side intelligence field. Wall Intelligence focuses on converting native edge-side large model technology into standardized products, which are implemented in core tracks such as embodied intelligence, automobiles, mobile phones, low-altitude economy, and civil aviation, and will expand to industrial, home, and special fields in the future.
New Products:
Samsung Electronics Launches New 990 SSD
On July 15, Samsung Electronics announced that the new 990 SSD is now being launched globally in succession, available in 1TB and 2TB capacity versions. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices are $269.99 and $529.99 respectively. (Jiemian)
Other Notable News:
UK to Impose Social Media "Curfew" on 16-17 Year Olds
The UK government announced on July 14 that it will impose a "curfew" on the use of social media by teenagers aged 16 to 17. This is a new social media restriction measure by the UK government following its announcement last month that it would ban people under 16 from using a range of social media applications. The UK government stated that under default settings, teenagers aged 16 to 17 will not be able to use social media from 0:00 to 6:00; features designed to induce users to browse for longer, including automatic video playback, will also be turned off by default. The UK government said in June that it would follow Australia's lead and ban people under 16 from using a range of social media applications. (Xinhua News Agency)
According to data from the Financial Futures Association of Japan, retail traders' net short position in the US dollar has surged more than threefold from the previous month to 2.79 trillion yen (about 17.2 billion US dollars), hitting the largest historical level since records began at the end of 2008. Although these bearish bets may also involve other currency pairs, the large size of outstanding positions related to the yen indicates that they are mainly concentrated in USD/JPY positions. There is widespread speculation in the market that Japanese authorities may intervene again to boost the yen exchange rate. (CLS)
Central Bank: Renminbi Deposits Increased by 17.76 Trillion Yuan in the First Half of the Year
36Kr has learned that the People's Bank of China released the 2026 first-half financial statistics report. At the end of June, the balance of local and foreign currency deposits was 354.33 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. The RMB deposit balance at the end of the month was 346.44 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. Renminbi deposits increased by 17.76 trillion yuan in the first half of the year. Among them, household deposits increased by 7.58 trillion yuan, non-financial enterprise deposits increased by 3.2 trillion yuan, fiscal deposits increased by 971.5 billion yuan, and non-bank financial institution deposits increased by 4.65 trillion yuan. At the end of June, the foreign currency deposit balance was 1.16 trillion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. Foreign currency deposits increased by 98 billion US dollars in the first half of the year.