36Kr 8 AM Brief | Revised Draft of the Road Traffic Safety Law: Automakers shall be held liable for violations occurring under autonomous driving conditions; All products have been removed from SK Hynix's official flagship store on Taobao; Canada announces the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on American goods
Today's Hotspot Overview
- Multiple apps have been notified for issues including excessive permission requests and unclosable windows
- Apple has completed the preparation for leadership transition, and Tim Cook will officially step down as CEO next week
- Every child in Singapore will receive a subsidy of 320,000 yuan in the future
- China revises the Law on Banking Supervision and Administration to strengthen the protection of consumer rights and interests
- The United States uses new DNA technology to confirm more 9/11 victims
TOP 3 Major News
Revised Draft of Road Traffic Safety Law: Automakers Shall Bear Responsibility for Violations Occurring Under Autonomous Driving Status
The revised draft of the Road Traffic Safety Law, which was submitted for the first deliberation at the meeting of the 14th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on August 25, sets up a special chapter titled "Special Provisions for Autonomous Vehicles", clarifies the definitions of autonomous vehicles and assisted driving functions, and stipulates that where a road traffic safety violation is committed by an autonomous vehicle when its autonomous driving function is activated, the producer or importer of the autonomous vehicle shall be held responsible for the violation. Autonomous vehicles with their autonomous driving functions not activated, as well as vehicles that are only equipped with assisted driving functions being driven on roads, shall be governed in accordance with the regulations applicable to non-autonomous vehicles. (Xinhua News Agency)
SK Hynix's official Taobao flagship store has removed all products from shelves, announcing that it will cease operations in early September
On August 24, some consumers posted online that the "SKhynix Flagship Store" on Taobao and Tmall suddenly announced the termination of its operations, worrying that the memory modules they purchased would not be covered by after-sales warranty. The public notice on the homepage of "SKhynix Flagship Store" shows that the store plans to voluntarily cease operations on September 9, 2026, and all products have been removed from shelves. At present, the store can no longer be directly searched on the Taobao platform.
Reporters consulted multiple SKhynix storage device distribution stores on various platforms about their after-sales warranty policies, and the relevant respondents stated that there is no affiliation between different stores, and each store is independently responsible for its own after-sales services. SK Hynix is a South Korean semiconductor manufacturer whose main business includes memory semiconductors such as DRAM, NAND Flash, and MCP (Multi-Chip Package). It currently has four production bases in Icheon and Cheongju of South Korea, Wuxi and Chongqing of China, and has set up sales, R&D and other bases in 16 countries and regions around the world. (The Paper)
Canada Announces Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods
On the 25th local time, the Government of Canada announced that it will impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods worth about 20 billion U.S. dollars. (CCTV News)
AI Cutting-Edge Frontiers
SpaceX AI Adds New Browser-Use Browser Plugin for Grok Build
On August 25, SpaceX AI added a powerful Browser Use plugin for Grok Build. This plugin enables Grok to call a real browser, which can not only use the Chrome browser with saved login status on the user's local device, but also call the isolated Browser Use cloud browser. Now Grok Build is able to browse web pages, crawl and extract data, fill out forms, test web applications, take screenshots, and complete the full set of web automation workflows. It also supports local operation via uvx, and no API key is required if local Chrome is invoked. (Sina Finance)
ByteDance Releases Doubao Work, Deeply Integrated with Feishu to Build Enterprise-grade Agent
36Kr has learned that Doubao Work was officially released on August 25. As a brand-new Agent product and brand launched by Doubao for productivity scenarios, Doubao Work can independently decompose tasks, invoke tools, and continuously advance complex workflows around user goals. Doubao Work is also deeply connected with Feishu, allowing the Agent to complete work more accurately based on the enterprise context.
Wall Street is on a massive recruitment drive for AI professionals, and the number of tech talents in New York has surpassed that of San Francisco for the first time
New York has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area in the size of its tech talent pool, becoming the largest tech talent hub in North America. The surging demand for artificial intelligence talents from Wall Street is reshaping the market landscape, even though San Francisco has not completely lost its leading position. This conclusion comes from the *2026 Tech Talent Assessment Report* released by CBRE. Between 2022 and 2025, the New York metropolitan area added 30,640 tech talents, bringing the total number to 394,300; while the San Francisco Bay Area saw a reduction of 23,900 tech talents, dropping to 375,730. This marks the first time in the 13-year history of this report that New York has ranked first in the number of tech talents. (Sina Finance)
Major Corporations / Key Events
Excessive permission requests, unclosable windows, a number of Apps have been notified
The reporter learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on August 25 that in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has carried out governance on issues such as illegal and irregular collection and use of personal information by Apps and SDKs (third-party software development kits). Recently, after organizing random inspections by third-party testing institutions, a total of 26 Apps and SDKs were found to have acts that infringe on users' rights and interests.
It is reported that the aforementioned Apps and SDKs shall be rectified in accordance with relevant regulations. For those that fail to implement the rectification properly, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will organize relevant disposal work in accordance with laws and regulations. (Xinhua News Agency)
International gold prices rebound rapidly, and sales of gold bars in Shuibei surge
Recently, the international gold price has rebounded rapidly, and the domestic gold retail market has also fluctuated accordingly. As the "vane" of the national gold and jewelry market, Shenzhen Shuibei market ushered in a small passenger flow peak last weekend. Reporters found during the survey that with gold prices fluctuating at a high level, consumers no longer blindly pursue large-sized gold products, and instead favor products that are both "lightweight" and "highly attractive". A number of merchants said that small gram-weight products with exquisite craftsmanship have become the absolute main sales force at present. At the same time, investment gold bar products have also ushered in a significant sales growth. At the entrances of some stores that specialize in investment gold bars, the number of customers coming for consultation and purchase has increased significantly. (CCTV Finance)
Major Personnel Shake-up at Hongsheng Group, Zong Fuli's Confidant Removed From Post
On August 25, a reporter learned from a person familiar with the matter that another personnel change has taken place at Hongsheng Group. An internal appointment document shows that Kou Jing, Director of the Human Resources Department of Hongsheng Group, has been removed from her post, and Liu Xiaojing, Deputy General Manager of Weifang Company, will take over the position. Kou Jing will then serve as the Section Chief of the Employee Relations Section under the Human Resources Department, which is suspected to be a demotion.
In October 2025, Kou Jing was promoted from Section Chief of the Employee Relations Section of the Human Resources Department to Director of the Human Resources Department. In November 2025, after Zong Fuli stepped down as Chairman of Wahaha Group, Kou Jing was promoted to the management of Wahaha and served as the group's supervisor. In June 2026, Kou Jing changed from supervisor to director of Wahaha Group, seemingly entering the core decision-making level. Some market sources said that Kou Jing is regarded as Zong Fuli's "confidant", and this removal from post may involve more complex internal management factors. (Red Star News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher collectively, with most large-cap tech stocks on the rise
36kr learned that at the close of trading on August 25, the three major U.S. stock indexes all posted gains: the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.32%, and the Nasdaq went up 0.66%. Most large-cap tech stocks moved higher: Netflix and Nvidia gained over 2%, Meta rose more than 1%, while Microsoft and Tesla recorded modest increases; Amazon, Google and Apple saw slight declines. Most popular Chinese concept stocks traded higher with fewer decliners: Futu Holdings rose over 8%, Tiger Brokers climbed more than 5%, NetEase and XPeng Inc. gained over 4%, NIO rose more than 2%, Baidu and Miniso Group climbed over 1%; Dingdong Maicai dropped more than 2%, Li Auto fell over 1%.
US Confirms Another 9/11 Victim With New DNA Technology
Recently, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and the New York City Police Department Detective Bureau confirmed that thanks to the "breakthrough" progress in genetic genealogy, investigators have once again confirmed the identity of a victim who lost their life in the "9/11 Terrorist Attacks". It is known that the latest victim whose identity has been confirmed is an adult woman. Up to now, she has become the 1654th "9/11" victim with officially confirmed identity.
Officials attribute this breakthrough to the application of "forensic investigative genetic genealogy", a technology that combines DNA testing with family pedigree research, providing a new approach for the identity identification of old remains. Jason Graham, Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, emphasized the significance of this technological breakthrough in an interview with the media. He stated that this is the first time in nearly 25 years that the team has used this brand-new method to confirm the identity of a "9/11" victim. (Yangtze Evening News)
SpaceX to invest 100 billion USD to build Starship launch site in Louisiana, USA
SpaceX announced on local time August 25 that it plans to invest 100 billion USD to construct a new launch site in the coastal wetlands of southern Louisiana, United States, to support thousands of Starship flights every year. The launch site is expected to break ground next year and will create over 3,000 new jobs. The Economic Development Agency of the U.S. state of Louisiana stated in a release that after the full completion of the project, it will reportedly include five launch complexes, each equipped with two launch pads and one propellant storage facility. Besides, the project will also cover propellant production facilities, power plants, spacecraft processing facilities, and residential areas for employees and their families. (Jiemian News)
Amazon has drastically raised the prices of its hardware devices, with some products seeing an increase of up to 60%
Amazon raised the prices of its hardware devices significantly last weekend, with some products posting a maximum price hike of 60%. The prices of Amazon's most popular electronic products, including the streaming device Fire TV, smart speaker Echo, e-book reader Kindle and router brand Eero, have all been adjusted. Among them, the price of Amazon's budget smart speaker Echo Dot has increased from $49.99 to $79.99, marking a surge of up to 60%.
An Amazon spokesperson explained in response that the consumer electronics industry is facing a sharp rise in the cost of memory and storage components. After absorbing these rising costs as much as possible, Amazon has adjusted the prices of all its product lines. Nevertheless, Amazon also stated that it will continue to provide customers with promotional activities from time to time in the next year. (CLS)
Apple has completed the groundwork for leadership transition, and Tim Cook will officially step down as CEO next week
Next Tuesday, Tim Cook will officially step down from his position as CEO of Apple, with John Ternus succeeding him. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple held a farewell party for Cook at Apple Park in Cupertino, California on Sunday. Around 200 people attended the party, almost all of whom are internal Apple employees. At his last earnings call as CEO last month, Cook stated: "The transition process is progressing very smoothly. I am extremely looking forward to John taking over the new position and leading Apple into the next era." (Sina Finance)
Jack Ma has increased his stake in Alibaba, having bought the company's Hong Kong-listed shares for a total of over HK$600 million on consecutive trading days
36Kr learned that as Alibaba launches placement financing, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, has been increasing his holdings of Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares for several days in a row, with the total transaction value exceeding HK$600 million. Together with the previously disclosed information that Joe Tsai and Wu Yongming have jointly increased their holdings by a total of HK$200 million in two consecutive days, the total increased holdings of Jack Ma and Alibaba's senior management in recent days have exceeded HK$800 million.
Wantai Biological: Actual Controller Zhong Shanshan Donates 33 Million Shares of the Company
36Kr learned that Wantai Biological disclosed that Zhong Shanshan, the actual controller of the company, has donated 33 million unrestricted tradable shares of the company directly held by him to the Fujian Xiang'an Innovation Laboratory Science and Technology Development Foundation free of charge, accounting for 2.61% of the company's total share capital. After the donation, Zhong Shanshan's direct shareholding ratio decreased from 17.71% to 15.10%, and the total shareholding ratio of him and the controlling shareholder Yangshengtang decreased from 73.53% to 70.92%. The recipient undertakes not to reduce its holdings of the donated shares within 6 months, and the share reduction quota will be calculated jointly with Zhong Shanshan when it conducts share reduction in the future. This donation will not lead to any change of the company's controlling shareholder and actual controller.
Volkswagen plans to cut 50,000 jobs, marking its largest restructuring in history
Recently, Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, stated in an interview with German media that the group is facing the most severe industry turmoil in the past century and has fully launched a cost reduction and self-rescue plan. The plan expands the global layoff scale from 50,000 to 100,000, and about 28,000 employees have already voluntarily left their positions; at the same time, the global annual production capacity will be lowered from 12 million units to 9 million units, with a reduction of 3 million units.
It is reported that the layoff plan of Volkswagen Group has triggered strong internal backlash. Christiane Benner, Vice Chairman of Volkswagen Supervisory Board and Chairwoman of IG Metall, characterized the 50,000-job layoff plan as a "tough provocation", saying that employees' trust in the management has been "severely damaged". (Wall Street CN)
Every child in Singapore will receive a total subsidy equivalent to 320,000 RMB in the future
According to the report of Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao on the 24th, Singapore has launched the SG Child Support Package to provide equal financial support for every child who is a Singapore citizen. The package includes an annual cash allowance of 2,000 Singapore dollars distributed from the child's age of 1 to 16, as well as a top-up of 10,000 Singapore dollars to the Post-Secondary Education Account when the child turns 17, so that parents can get more continuous support in the parenting process. The SG Child Support Package will replace the existing Baby Bonus and the "More Families Plan", providing subsidies of up to 62,000 Singapore dollars (equivalent to about 328,000 RMB) for every Singaporean citizen child. (Huanqiu.com)
8.86 seconds, the 100-meter race record for humanoid robots has been refreshed once again
On August 25, in the 100m semi-final of the large-sized group at the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games, the result of the first group broke the previous record again. Following the 9.39-second performance achieved at the opening ceremony, the Tiangong humanoid robot from Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center delivered a best result of 8.86 seconds, setting a brand new record. (CCTV News)
Space-borne AI realizes on-orbit automatic identification of surface anomalies
At 11:21 on August 25, the Long March 6C Y1 carrier rocket was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, successfully sending 7 satellites into their predetermined orbits. This mission marks the 665th flight of the Long March series carrier rockets. Among them, the "Muduo 1" scientific experimental satellite constellation is developed by Beijing Normal University, equipped with space computing and space interconnection capabilities. The algorithms and large AI models carried on the satellite can identify, diagnose and issue early warnings for more than ten types of surface anomalies including wildfires and landslides, which is expected to greatly shorten the early warning time for surface anomalies in the future. (CCTV News)
China Amends the Law on Banking Supervision to Strengthen Consumer Rights Protection
The revised draft of the Law on Banking Supervision was submitted to the second deliberation at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on August 25. The second review draft of the bill further consolidates the responsibilities of the banking regulatory authority in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of banking consumers, improves relevant supporting systems, and specifically regulates illegal acts such as misappropriation of customer funds by employees of banking and financial institutions that exist in practical operations. Specifically, the second review draft adds provisions that the banking regulatory authority under the State Council shall be responsible for coordinating the work of protecting the rights and interests of banking consumers, and establishing and improving the complaint handling mechanism for banking consumers and the multi-resolution mechanism for consumer disputes. (Xinhua News Agency)
The new policy of Chengdu housing provident fund will come into effect on the 25th, with the minimum down payment ratio reduced to 15%
36Kr learned that according to the official WeChat account "Chengdu Release", Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources, Chengdu Municipal Finance Bureau, and Chengdu Housing Provident Fund Management Center recently jointly issued a notice to further optimize and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market. The notice clearly puts forward that the support for housing provident fund will be strengthened. From the effective date of this notice to December 31, 2026, for applicants who apply for housing provident fund loans to purchase new commercial residential housing in the city, the minimum down payment ratio is 15%, and a 20% interest subsidy for a one-year period will be provided, with the maximum subsidy amount no more than 25,000 yuan. For the purchase of new commercial residential housing whose design meets the one-star green building standard or above, the maximum loan quota of housing provident fund will be raised by 20%.
US Treasury Secretary Bessent is about to unveil a deficit reduction plan, which is expected to hardly get support from Congress
US Treasury Secretary Bessent will announce the fiscal deficit reduction plan in the coming days, but there is currently no sign that the Republican-controlled Congress is willing to cooperate to cut net expenditure. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said on Monday that restricted by political realities, he sees no actions that Congress will take on the deficit issue. He said that cutting the deficit "is not a popular topic that can help win the midterm elections, even though doing so is the right thing to do." (Sina Finance)
Elon Musk: After Starship achieves stable high-frequency operation, SpaceX will gradually phase out Falcon rockets
According to the news on August 25, Elon Musk recently stated on social media platform X that once Starship can stably complete several flights per week, SpaceX should redirect its extremely scarce engineering and production resources to Starship, and increase the launch frequency to several times a day, which means the launches of the Falcon series rockets will be gradually stopped. (Jiemian News)
Trump purchased shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX in June
According to a public financial disclosure document, U.S. President Trump invested in Elon Musk's SpaceX in June with a maximum amount of 50,000 USD, granting him a financial stake in a major government contractor operated by one of his former advisers. Per a financial disclosure document signed by Trump on August 12 and released publicly on August 22, he bought stocks valued at between 15,001 USD and 50,000 USD on June 23. This purchase was one of more than 1,000 stock transactions the president conducted in June. SpaceX completed the largest IPO in U.S. history on June 12, and the space, satellite and AI provider reached a valuation of 1.77 trillion USD. (Sina Finance)
Europe's largest aviation group Ryanair has reached direct ticketing cooperation with Fliggy
36Kr learned that recently, Fliggy and Ryanair announced that the two sides have officially reached direct ticketing cooperation, and Ryanair's air tickets will be sold on the Fliggy platform through its official API interface. The direct cooperation between the two parties covers Ryanair's routes in the European region, including destinations such as the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
IPO in Progress
Smart ring firm Oura plans U.S. IPO with valuation exceeding 16 billion U.S. dollars
Finnish smart ring company Oura Health Oy and some of its existing shareholders were disclosed by people familiar with the matter on Monday (August 24) that they are preparing for the initial public offering in the United States, with a planned maximum fundraising of 3 billion U.S. dollars and a possible valuation of over 16 billion U.S. dollars. The listing is expected to take place as early as September. Existing shareholders plan to sell a considerable portion of their shares in the offering. (Sina Finance)
Major Corporate Earnings Reports
Laopu Gold: Revenue of RMB 19.81 billion in the first half of the year, up 60.3% year on year
36Kr learned that Laopu Gold disclosed its semi-annual report. In the first half of the year, the group's sales performance reached RMB 22.78 billion, a year-on-year increase of 60.6%; revenue hit RMB 19.81 billion, a year-on-year increase of 60.3%; profit during the period was RMB 4.27 billion, a year-on-year increase of 88.2%.
CEM: Net profit for the first half of the year reaches 75.1854 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.94%
36Kr learns that CEM has disclosed its semi-annual report. In the first half of 2026, the company recorded an operating revenue of 479 million yuan, up 37.09% year on year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company stood at 75.1854 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 72.94%.
The Lego Group's H1 revenue surges 21% year on year to a record high
Swedish toy manufacturer Lego announced on Tuesday that its revenue in the first half of the year skyrocketed 21% year on year, and its mature hit product lines such as botanical models, F1 racing cars and collectible sets once again drove performance growth. Lego disclosed in its semi-annual financial report that its revenue in the first half of the year hit a record high of 41.9 billion Danish kroner (about 6.54 billion US dollars). Operating profit increased by 22% year on year to 10.9 billion Danish kroner (about 1.7 billion US dollars). (Sina Finance)
Luzhou Laojiao: Net profit in the first half of the year reached 4.339 billion yuan, down 43.37% year on year
36Kr learned that Luzhou Laojiao disclosed its semi-annual report. In the first half of 2026, the company achieved a total operating revenue of 10.472 billion yuan, down 36.35% year on year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 4.339 billion yuan, down 43.37% year on year; the basic earnings per share was 2.95 yuan.
Xtep International: Revenue Reached 6.795 Billion Yuan in the First Half of the Year
36Kr learned that Xtep International announced its 2026 interim results. During the reporting period, the group posted a revenue of 6.795 billion yuan. The revenue of the core Xtep brand dipped slightly by 2.2% to 5.92 billion yuan, while the revenue of the professional sports division achieved a 11.4% growth, hitting 875 million yuan. In the first half of the year, the profit attributable to ordinary equity holders of the company was 817.9 million yuan, down 10.5% year on year, with a net profit margin of 12.0%.
Vipshop: Net revenue in Q2 2026 reaches 24.7 billion yuan, SVIP user scale has exceeded 10 million
36Kr learns that Vipshop has released its financial report for the second quarter of 2026. The financial report shows that the company achieved a net revenue of 24.7 billion yuan (CNY, the same hereinafter) in the second quarter, with GMV of 50.6 billion yuan and 182 million orders. The number of Super VIP (SVIP) users has now exceeded 10 million. In the first half of this year, Vipshop has rewarded shareholders with a total of nearly 400 million US dollars through stock dividends and share repurchases. Based on confidence in the company's future development, the board of directors of Vipshop has approved a new share repurchase plan, which allows the company to repurchase no more than 1 billion US dollars of its American Depositary Shares or Class A common shares within 24 months after the completion of the existing share repurchase plan.
Cool Products
Apple is reportedly set to launch its first all-new Mac mini in two years
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple Inc. is preparing to roll out the first new version of the Mac mini desktop computer in nearly two years. Insiders disclosed that the new desktop model may make its debut as early as in the next few days, and its release time may be earlier than the new iPhone launch event in September. This upgraded device is part of a series of new products to be launched in the second half of this year, including the new Apple Watch, AirPods, and a smart home device equipped with a facial recognition screen that will rely on facial recognition technology to identify users. (Sina Finance)
FDA Authorizes Robot Capable of Performing Independent Blood Draws
According to a report from Phys.org on the 23rd, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval to Aletta, the first robotic device that can independently draw blood from a patient's arm. The device is approved for use on adult outpatients under the supervision of trained phlebotomy personnel. One phlebotomist can supervise up to three Aletta devices simultaneously, taking charge of activating the devices and handling abnormal conditions, while Aletta autonomously completes the entire blood collection process. (Science and Technology Daily)
Edited | Wang Haoyang