Krypton Evening News | Airbus initiates the second phase of its share buyback program; China's first green hydrogen coal chemical project is fully operational; Indonesia is in talks with Singapore and Malaysia regarding data center cooperation.
Large Companies:
36Kr learned that on November 19th, Peng Baolin, the deputy sales general manager of GAC Toyota, posted on a social platform, stating that he had noticed information about "GAC Toyota discontinuing multiple best - selling gasoline cars", which is false information. Previously, market news reported that at least two of GAC Toyota's main fuel - powered vehicles would be discontinued in 2026. One is a compact sedan with monthly sales of over a thousand units recently, and the other is a mid - size SUV with monthly sales of over ten thousand units.
"Lingguang" Downloads Exceed 500,000, Ranks Seventh on the App Store Overall Chart
36Kr learned that on November 18th, Ant Group officially launched the full - modality general AI assistant "Lingguang". On the first day of its launch, the number of downloads exceeded 200,000. In just over two days, the downloads exceeded 500,000. On the third day, it ranked seventh on the App Store overall chart and first on the App Store free tools chart.
Airbus Launches the Second Phase of Its Stock Repurchase Program
Airbus announced on November 20th that it is launching the second phase of the share repurchase program announced on September 8th. This program aims to support future employee share - ownership plan activities and equity incentive plans. The program will be implemented in multiple phases on the open market, with a deadline of January 16, 2026, and a maximum limit of 4,140,000 shares for repurchase. The first phase of the program was completed on October 31, 2025, with a total of 2,070,000 shares repurchased. Airbus has entrusted an investment company to manage the implementation of the second phase of the program, during which no more than 2,070,000 shares will be repurchased, and the implementation period will be from November 20, 2025, to January 16, 2026.
On November 19th local time, Yann LeCun, a Turing Award winner and the chief scientist of Meta AI, announced on a social platform that he is about to leave Meta, where he has worked for 12 years, to start the next phase of his career: entrepreneurship. The core of research and development of this new company will be "Advanced Machine Intelligence" (AMI). "The goal of the new company is to drive the next major revolution in AI: enabling systems to understand the physical world, have long - term memory, possess reasoning abilities, and plan complex action sequences."
America's Largest Rare - Earth Company to Build a Factory in Saudi Arabia
Mountain Pass Materials, the largest rare - earth producer in the United States, announced on the 19th that it has reached a partnership with the U.S. Department of War (i.e., the Department of Defense) and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company and plans to build a rare - earth refinery in Saudi Arabia.
Lei Jun Expects Xiaomi to Deliver Over 400,000 Cars This Year
On November 20th, Xiaomi Auto announced that its 500,000th vehicle rolled off the production line, taking approximately 20 months in total, setting a new record in China's new - energy vehicle industry. At the scene, Lei Jun said that the expected delivery volume in 2025 will exceed 400,000 units.
Trump Reportedly Plans to Launch a "Creation Mission" to Promote U.S. AI Development
According to an official from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. President Trump plans to launch a "Creation Mission" in an executive order to be signed at the White House next Monday to strengthen the development of artificial intelligence in the United States. Carl Coe, the chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Energy, said at the "Energy Opportunities Conference" in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday that this move is intended to show that the Trump administration believes that the upcoming AI competition is as important as the "Manhattan Project" or the space race.
Investment and Financing:
Google to Invest $2 Billion in Building a Data Center in Turkey
The Turkish vice - president said that Google will invest $2 billion in building a data center in Turkey.
"RockFlow" Completes a New Round of Tens of Millions of Dollars in Financing, Led by Ant Group
36Kr learned that Singapore - based AI - native fintech company "RockFlow" recently announced that it has completed a new round of financing worth tens of millions of dollars. This round of financing is led by Ant Group, with follow - on investments from Monolith Capital, as well as existing shareholders Lanchi Ventures, Forwest Capital, and Evergreen.
Today's Views:
Thai Finance Ministry: Consider Raising VAT in 2028 if the Economy Recovers
According to Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Thailand may raise the current 7% value - added tax (VAT) rate to 8.5% in 2028 to increase national fiscal revenue, which is part of its medium - term fiscal plan. Ekniti told reporters on Thursday that according to the plan, the VAT rate will be raised to 8.5% in 2028 and then restored to the normal level of 10% in 2030. However, Ekniti said that given the economic downturn, the VAT rate will not be raised in the next few years. Only when the economic situation improves will the government proceed with the VAT increase.
Other Noteworthy News:
It was learned from the industry that since China's lithium iron phosphate industry has been in an overall loss situation for several consecutive years, and the disorderly competition and low - price involution in the industry threaten the survival foundation and sustainable development of the entire industry, the China Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association will issue a "Notice on Referring to the Lithium Iron Phosphate Cost Index and Regulating Industry Development". The notice suggests that enterprises should take the industry average cost range disclosed by the association on November 18th as an important reference for quotations and not break the cost red line for low - price dumping. The China Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association will regularly disclose the industry average cost range on a monthly basis starting this month to provide an authoritative regulatory basis for enterprise quotations. At the same time, the association suggests that enterprises fulfill their obligation to submit information, and enterprises should regularly and truthfully submit their production capacity, output, inventory and other operating data to the association on a monthly basis as an important reference for industry resource allocation.
36Kr learned that the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has drafted the "Standards for Government Procurement Requirements of New - Energy Vehicles (Draft for Comment)" and is now soliciting public opinions.
Indonesia is in Talks with Singapore and Malaysia on Data Center Cooperation
Airlangga Hartarto, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia, said in a keynote speech on Thursday that the Indonesian government is in consultations with Singapore and Malaysia and plans to jointly build a "tri - lateral data center". Hartarto pointed out that these data centers will be located in Indonesia, Singapore, and the state of Johor (a state in Malaysia), but did not provide further details.
China's First Green Hydrogen - Based Coal Chemical Project Fully Operational
Today (November 20th), the 150,000 - kilowatt wind - solar - energy - storage - hydrogen - production integrated demonstration project in Duolun, China Datang, has fully entered the market - oriented operation. This is the first domestic demonstration project of coupling green hydrogen with the coal chemical industry. The collaborative model of "green power to produce hydrogen + surplus power to the grid" has been successfully implemented, providing a replicable practical example for the green transformation of the coal chemical industry.