8:00 36Kr Daily Briefing: Anthropic $2 Trillion Valuation IPO Prospect, Want Want Group Major Operational Crisis, Sorry Ransomware Spreading in China

Industry insiders pointed out that Anthropic has secretly submitted IPO-related documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June and entered the quiet period.

Today's Hot News Guide

Unitree Robotics is snapped up wildly even before its IPO, with some agencies offering a price of 520 yuan per share

Chairman of SK Hynix issued an apology, stating "I am deeply sorry that the prices have risen too fast"

Duan Yongping's 130 billion yuan position has been exposed, showing he substantially reduced his holdings in NVIDIA and Google

Meitu RoboNeo has officially launched the professional version for short dramas

Bear Electric's net profit dropped by 40% in the first half of the year, and overseas growth failed to offset the domestic operational pressure

TOP 3 Major News

Anthropic is expected to be listed at a valuation of 2 trillion US dollars, becoming the largest IPO in history

Fortune released a blog post on August 13, reporting that Anthropic plans to complete its IPO and go public at a valuation of 2 trillion US dollars (equivalent to about 13.51 trillion yuan at the current exchange rate) in October 2026. The scale of this IPO will exceed that of SpaceX, making it the largest IPO in history. Industry insiders pointed out that Anthropic has secretly submitted IPO-related documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June and entered the quiet period. Restricted by relevant rules, the company is not allowed to release public information involving its own financial performance to external parties.

This year, Anthropic has launched a number of models with better performance than competing products, while focusing on sales business for enterprise customers. The company announced in May that its annualized revenue has exceeded 47 billion US dollars (equivalent to about 3.17575 trillion yuan at the current exchange rate). (IT Home)

Want Want's founder releases open letter: Want Want Group is facing a major operational crisis

Recently, an internal open letter from Tsai Eng-meng, founder of Want Want Group, has been circulating on the Internet. The letter explicitly points out that the company's performance and profit in the first quarter fell short of expectations, defines the situation as a "major operational crisis", and requires internal reflection on deep-seated problems such as insufficient product innovation and aging channels. Many netizens still have deep feelings for the Want Want brand and have offered suggestions for it, among which the most frequent recommendation is sugar reduction. On the 15th, "Want Want's biggest rival is actually sugar" became a trending search on Weibo.

The reporter noticed that later, "Want Want Club" released an image-text post in response to netizens' calls for sugar reduction, showing a series of new sugar-free and low-sugar Want Want products, including beverages, snacks and other categories. This post mentions that "We will continue to dare to try new things, and strive to become a better Want Want." (Beijing Daily)

Cybersecurity Alert: Sorry Ransomware Is Spreading Across China

Recently, the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and the National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention and Control Technology jointly issued a security alert, and multiple "Sorry" ransomware attack cases have been detected in China. After infiltrating devices, this ransomware will encrypt all important files on users' equipment, uniformly append the "Sorry" suffix to the files, and leave a ransom note at the same time.

Different from common malicious programs that require users to manually click and authorize installation, the "Sorry" ransomware can achieve non-perceptible intrusion by exploiting system vulnerabilities, with stronger concealment and aggressiveness. Reporters interviewed cybersecurity experts and fully restored the whole process of the virus's encryption and extortion through real-scene tests. Experts noted that unlike most previous ransomware that needs to trick internet users into installing it actively, this new ransomware directly logs into servers via system vulnerabilities, and users are completely unaware of the entire intrusion process. (CCTV.com)

Cutting-Edge AI

"Qianwen Office" Debuts Two Models: GLM-5.3 and DeepSeek V4 Pro

Alibaba's Agent product "Qianwen Office" has launched two cutting-edge models GLM-5.3 and DeepSeek V4 Pro for the first time. Starting from now, users can directly select and use them in the "Cutting-edge Models" section on the product homepage. Together with the previously launched Qwen3.8-Max, Qianwen Office now supports three domestic flagship models.

Nvidia is reportedly planning to invest 3 billion USD in SoftBank's SB Energy

On August 16, according to reports, Nvidia is in negotiations to invest up to 3 billion USD in SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank. SB Energy is developing a large-scale data center project in Ohio, the United States, to provide computing power infrastructure for OpenAI. It is reported that this investment is part of the negotiations among Nvidia, OpenAI and SB Energy to provide about 100 billion USD of credit support for the data center project in Ohio. Nvidia plans to invest about 1.5 billion USD when the project is signed, and the remaining funds may be injected through SB Energy's planned Initial Public Offering (IPO). SB Energy plans to go public as early as September, with an expected fundraising of at least 5 billion USD.

Big Companies / Major Events

Insiders Respond to the Rumor of Dreame's Large Home Appliance Division Dissolution: Operations Remain Normal

Recently, the topic of "online rumors about the dissolution of Dreame's large home appliance division" has hit Weibo's trending list and drawn widespread public attention. According to the leaked content, suppliers for Dreame's refrigerator-related business during the AWE exhibition are allegedly facing unsettled payments and plan to take collective actions to safeguard their rights, which has prompted a large number of supplier comments that cast a negative outlook on Dreame. Some people even mentioned unsubstantiated claims about Dreame downsizing through layoffs and its founder Yu Hao selling his private jet.

As of press time, the company has not issued any response to the aforementioned news. Reporters noted that the supplier who originally posted the relevant content has already deleted it. An insider close to Dreame disclosed that the relevant business is still "operating normally". (Sina Tech)

Unitree Robotics is wildly snapped up before its listing, with some intermediaries offering 520 yuan per share

The off-exchange "grey market trading" of Unitree Robotics is emerging quietly. At present, many intermediaries are acquiring the new shares through various channels, with large differences in quotations. Some intermediaries offer 520 yuan per share (the issue price is 150.8 yuan per share), while others quote 410 yuan per share; many investors who have won the new share allotment are also actively looking for buyers online. It is worth noting that this type of "grey market trading" was previously common for new shares on the Beijing Stock Exchange, and has recently spread to star stocks on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. Reporters previously noticed that before Changxin Technology was listed, some intermediaries also bought back the new shares of this stock at a high price, and the quotation from intermediaries at that time was 36 yuan per share (the issue price is 8.66 yuan per share). (Securities China)

SK Hynix Chairman Apologizes: "I Am Very Sorry That Prices Have Risen Too Fast"

Recently, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, used such wording to describe the current memory chip market during a media interview at SK Hynix's South Korean headquarters. "Prices have risen too fast, and I am really sorry for that," Chey Tae-won said. This is not the first time Chey Tae-won has issued a warning. Back in July this year, when SK Hynix was listed on NASDAQ, he pointed out that memory demand in the AI era is growing exponentially, and even doubling the production capacity in the next five years will still hardly meet the demand. In this exclusive interview, his prediction is more specific and more urgent. (Shanghai Securities News)

Jensen Huang has invested 21 billion US dollars in Elon Musk, making NVIDIA the sixth largest investor in SpaceX

Regulatory documents submitted by NVIDIA to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the 14th local time show that as of the end of the second quarter of this year, the company holds approximately 122.8 million Class A shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX, valued at around 21 billion US dollars, making it the sixth largest investor in SpaceX.

According to data from financial data institution FactSet, the largest shareholder of SpaceX is Elon Musk himself. Calculated based on the stock price at the end of the second quarter, the book value of his shareholding is approximately 850 billion US dollars. NVIDIA's 21 billion US dollar position in SpaceX is the company's second largest equity position, second only to its position in Intel. Affected by the recent pullback in SpaceX's stock price, the current market value of this position has shrunk. SpaceX's stock price closed at 140 US dollars on the 14th, down about 18% from 170.86 US dollars at the end of June, and the market value corresponding to NVIDIA's shareholding has dropped to about 17.2 billion US dollars. Reports say that NVIDIA's shareholding in SpaceX was not purchased directly, but originated from its 10 billion US dollar investment in Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI in January this year. In February, SpaceX acquired xAI through a share swap, with the merged entity valued at 1.25 trillion US dollars, and the equity of xAI held by NVIDIA was thus converted into SpaceX equity. (21st Century Business Herald)

Duan Yongping's $130 Billion Portfolio Exposed, with Massive Reduction of Holdings in NVIDIA and Google

As of the end of the second quarter, the total market value of positions held by the H&H International Investment fund managed by Duan Yongping is approximately 19.1 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to about 137 billion yuan, which is down from 20 billion U.S. dollars at the end of the fourth quarter of last year. In the second quarter, Duan Yongping continued to increase his holdings in Pinduoduo, repurchased Alibaba, reduced his positions in Apple, NVIDIA, Google, Microsoft and other stocks, and liquidated all holdings in individual stocks including TSMC and CrowdStrike. (Securities Times)

Since the beginning of this year, the cornerstone investment amount of Hong Kong stock IPOs has increased by 158.3% year on year

Since the start of this year, a growing number of institutional investors have participated in cornerstone investments for Hong Kong stock IPOs. Data shows that as of August 14, a total of 102 companies have been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange within the year, with total fundraising reaching HK$328.758 billion, a year-on-year increase of 154.17%. Among them, 84 companies introduced cornerstone investors in their IPOs, involving 951 investments, up 291% year on year; the total cornerstone investment amount hit HK$139.21 billion, rising 158.3% year on year. (Securities Daily)

SK Hynix records a per capita salary of 687,000 yuan in the first half of the year, rising by about 23% year on year

In the first half of this year, SK Hynix achieved a total operating revenue of 131.90 trillion won (about 629.295 billion yuan at the current exchange rate), a year-on-year increase of 230.8%; the net profit attributable to shareholders reached 134.15 trillion won (about 640.03 billion yuan at the current exchange rate), up 788.16% year on year; the gross profit margin was 81.63%, an increase of 26.24 percentage points year on year. According to the financial report, the per capita compensation of SK Hynix's employees in the first half of this year was 144 million won (about 687,000 yuan at the current exchange rate), up about 23% from 117 million won (about 558,000 yuan at the current exchange rate) in the same period of last year. (IT Home)

JPMorgan Chase: Global food crisis may break out next year, global food inflation rate will rise from 2.8% to 5%

JPMorgan Chase warned a few days ago that the next round of global food crisis may be brewing and could erupt next year. Analysts at the bank attributed the driving factors to "five Ws": War, Weather, Warehousing, Water and Waste.

In a new report titled Food Security Is National Security: A Compounding Storm, the team led by London-based senior global economist Nora Szentivanyi warned that shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the potential emergence of a historically severe El Niño event could reduce crop yields, restrict agricultural production, and keep food inflation persistently high in the first half of 2027. She predicts that the global food inflation rate will accelerate from 2.8% in the first half of 2026 to 5% in the first half of next year. (Sina Finance)

Shanghai Disneyland is expanding "Soaring Over the Horizon", and new progress has been made in the construction of its ninth theme land

The construction of the ninth theme land, the Spider-Man-themed land, has reached another key milestone. Following the completion of the track installation for the theme land's ride facilities in June this year, the first batch of ride units were put in place several days ago, and the commissioning of the ride equipment is about to kick off. The above news was announced at Disney's ultimate fan convention D23 (hereinafter referred to as "D23 Expo") currently held in California, the United States. In addition, the expansion of the iconic themed attraction "Soaring Over the Horizon" in Shanghai Disneyland is being advanced in parallel; the expansion of two brand new themed hotels adjacent to the resort is also underway. (Red Star News)

Harvard holds $2.2 billion worth of SpaceX shares

Harvard University's investment management arm has disclosed that it holds SpaceX shares worth $2.2 billion. The institution invested in Elon Musk's rocket enterprise in the early years and reaped huge returns after SpaceX's high-profile public listing. Harvard Management Company disclosed the position in a regulatory filing on Friday. In its $4.3 billion U.S. stock investment portfolio, SpaceX has become the single largest holding by market value. This position fully demonstrates that SpaceX's record-breaking IPO in June has brought lucrative returns to a host of university endowment funds. Many university endowment funds began to invest in the company through venture capital channels as early as more than a decade ago. According to the latest public data, as of June 2025, Harvard Management Company manages approximately $57 billion in assets under management. Harvard is not the only beneficiary of SpaceX's debut in the public market. Filings from the investment arm of the University of California show that it holds approximately $1 billion worth of SpaceX shares; the University of North Carolina and Washington University in St. Louis also hold investments in the company.

Li Lu substantially increased his position in Pinduoduo, with only 8 positions remaining in the portfolio

The Himalaya Fund managed by Li Lu completely liquidated 6 individual stocks including Bank of America, Occidental Petroleum, Moody's, S&P Global, MSCI and H&R Block, and at the same time substantially increased its holdings in Pinduoduo and Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares. Among them, the holdings of Pinduoduo were more than doubled. As of the end of the second quarter, the total market value of positions held by the Himalaya Fund rose from 3.2 billion US dollars at the end of the previous quarter to 3.7 billion US dollars, and the number of positions was further reduced to 8. (Securities Times)

Meitu RoboNeo Officially Launches Short Drama Professional Version

36Kr has learned that Meitu RoboNeo has officially launched its Short Drama Professional Version. The Short Drama Professional Version of Meitu RoboNeo has upgraded its capabilities in four major directions: short drama insight, 3D scene construction, team collaboration and creative asset management. The official asset library provides materials such as costumes, hairstyles, accessories and scenes, and supports the rapid generation of three-view drawings of characters.

Australian researchers have cultivated human heart valve tissue using stem cells

Australian researchers recently used stem cells to cultivate human heart valve tissue in the laboratory, which can be used to study the development and pathological process of heart valves, and test the treatment methods for related diseases. The research results have been published in the US journal *Cell Stem Cell*. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia announced that the tissue cultivated by the research team led by the institute can reproduce the molecular characteristics and complex structure of human heart valves.

Research team member Holly Forges said that this achievement solves a key problem in heart valve biology research. The newly cultivated tissue helps to study how heart valves develop, mature and develop lesions, and can also be used to test potential therapeutic methods in the laboratory. The researchers also carried out tests related to inflammatory valve diseases with the cultivated tissue. Experiments show that when the cultivated tissue is exposed to inflammatory proteins related to rheumatic heart disease, the tissue becomes stiff and presents biomarkers consistent with those of diseased human heart valves. (CCTV News)

Berkshire Hathaway increased its holdings in Google in the second quarter

On local time August 14, according to reports, Berkshire Hathaway liquidated all its positions in Constellation Brands (STZ) in the second quarter; it reduced its holdings in Kroger (KR), Capital One Financial (COF), Nucor (NUE), Ally Financial (ALLY) and DaVita (DVA). It increased its holdings of Alphabet Class A (GOOGL), Alphabet (GOOG), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Lennar (LEN) and Macy's (M). (Jiemian News)

Ongoing IPO Processes

Mai Optoelectronics' IPO counseling filing has been accepted

According to the public information from China Securities Regulatory Commission, the listing counseling filing application of Suzhou Mai Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. was accepted on August 14, with Guotai Haitong Securities as the counseling institution. The acceptance of this counseling filing marks that Mai Optoelectronics has entered the listing counseling stage. Founded in 2015, Mai Optoelectronics is a platform optical technology enterprise with vertical integration capabilities in the global optical interconnection field, which has long been focused on the R&D, production and sales of passive optical devices. (ChinaVenture)

Large Company Earnings Reports

Anthropic's second fiscal quarter revenue exceeded 11.5 billion U.S. dollars, surging at least 13 times year-on-year

Anthropic PBC told potential investors that its revenue in the second quarter rose by at least 13 times compared with the same period of the previous year. According to documents, Anthropic's preliminary revenue in the latest full quarter exceeded 11.5 billion U.S. dollars, hitting 787 million U.S. dollars in the same period in 2025 and 4.73 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year. The documents also show that Anthropic's adjusted operating profit turned positive in the second quarter of 2026. Relevant discussions are still underway, and these figures are still subject to adjustment. (CLS)

Bear Electric's H1 net profit drops 40%, overseas growth fails to offset domestic pressure

On August 13, Bear Electric disclosed its 2026 semi-annual report. In the first half of the year, the company realized operating revenue of 2.349 billion yuan, down 7.34% year on year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 120 million yuan, down 41.30% year on year; the non-recurring profit deducted net profit was 109 million yuan, down 41.59% year on year. The decline in profit is significantly higher than the decline in revenue, which reflects that in addition to weakening demand, the company is also facing pressures brought by changes in costs, expenses and business structures. (Wall Street CN)

Compiled by ｜ He Yuting