36Kr Evening News | Alibaba Releases Movie-Grade Video Model Wanxiang 2.6; Ford Motor Recalls 32,160 E-Transits in the US; AMD's Lisa Su Visits Lenovo Group's Global Headquarters
Large Companies:
The number of digital consumption users in China has exceeded 958 million
The "Report on the Development of Digital Consumption (2025)" recently released by the Policy and International Cooperation Institute of the China Internet Network Information Center shows that in the first half of 2025, the number of digital consumption users in China exceeded 958 million, accounting for 85.3% of the total number of netizens. Digital consumption is becoming an important driving force for consumption. (CCTV News)
Alibaba releases the movie - grade video model Wanxiang 2.6
36Kr learned that on December 16, Alibaba released a new - generation Wanxiang 2.6 series of models. This series of models has been comprehensively upgraded for professional film and television production and image creation scenarios and supports the role - playing function. The model also supports functions such as audio - video synchronization, multi - shot generation, and voice - driven, and is the world's most feature - rich video generation model. It is understood that Wanxiang 2.6 has been simultaneously launched on Alibaba Cloud Bailian and the official website of Wanxiang.
Ford recalls 32,160 E - Transits in the United States
On December 16, according to the disclosure of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States, due to the loss of driving power caused by the detached axle, Ford Motor Company is recalling some 2022 - 2025 E - Transit models, a total of 32,160 vehicles. (Jiemian)
"Ant A Fu" ranks third on the overall Apple App Store chart
36Kr learned that on December 16, the download volume of the AI health app "Ant A Fu" under Ant Group soared after its release yesterday and reached the third place on the overall Apple App Store chart today. It is understood that the monthly active user scale of the "Ant A Fu" App has exceeded 15 million, and it answers more than 5 million health questions from users every day.
Kering Group completes a real - estate transaction in New York with private equity firm Ardian
On December 16, Kering Group and private equity firm Ardian announced that they had signed a joint - venture agreement for the Kering real - estate project located at 715 - 717 Fifth Avenue in New York City, and the agreement took effect immediately. After reaching a cooperation agreement earlier this year, Kering Group injected the asset into a new joint - venture with Ardian. Ardian holds 60% of the shares, and Kering Group holds 40%. The transaction amount reached $900 million (€766 million), and Kering Group's net income was $690 million (€587 million). (Jiemian)
AMD's Lisa Su visits Lenovo Group's global headquarters
On December 16, Lisa Su, the chairperson of the board and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), led a senior management team to visit Lenovo Group's global headquarters in Beijing. Accompanied by several senior executives of Lenovo Group, the AMD delegation visited a number of Lenovo's latest products and technological achievements, including humanoid robots. (Yicai)
Volkswagen will shut down its German factory for the first time in the company's history
Hit by weak market demand and high US tariffs, this automotive giant has decided to stop the whole - vehicle production at its Dresden factory, which started production in 2001. On Tuesday, the last car will roll off the assembly line at Volkswagen's Dresden factory in Germany. This is the first time that this 88 - year - old automaker has shut down its whole - vehicle production factory in Germany. (Sina Finance)
Investment and Financing:
Youdao's AI Q&A pen's sales exceed 100 million yuan within a year of its launch
36Kr learned that the sales of the AI - native hardware "Youdao AI Q&A pen" under NetEase Youdao have exceeded 100 million yuan within less than a year of its launch.
On December 15, Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast held a completion ceremony for its electric vehicle factory in Subang, West Java, Indonesia. The VinFast Subang factory covers an area of 171 hectares and plans to invest in phases, with a total investment expected to exceed $1 billion. The first - phase investment is more than $300 million, with a designed annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles, which can be expanded to 350,000 vehicles in the future to meet domestic and export demands. (Jiemian)
The Shenye Yuncong Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund is officially established
36Kr exclusively learned that on December 16, Yuncong Technology, Shenye Capital, and Shenzhen Science and Technology Park jointly announced the official launch of the "Shenye Yuncong Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund". Multiple industries and institutions, including the Gan - Shen Industry Fund and Ningbo Qijing Group, jointly contributed capital, with an initial scale of 300 million yuan. The fund will focus on AI infrastructure, industry intelligent agent applications, and the cultivation of the embodied intelligence industrial ecosystem to promote the systematic and large - scale development of the new - generation artificial intelligence industry.
New Products:
Meitu's product WHEE officially launches the "Material Editor" function
36Kr learned that recently, WHEE, a product under Meitu, officially launched the "Material Editor" function, covering various material forms such as small cards, badges, and posters, providing a one - stop material production solution. It is understood that WHEE will also launch interactive functions such as template sharing and work display in the future to build a fan co - creation community and provide full - link support from design, production to dissemination.
36Kr learned that on December 16, at the Miaoda 2025 Creator Conference, Baidu announced the latest progress of the no - code application building platform "Miaoda": Since its launch eight months ago, the platform has generated more than 500,000 business applications in total, with a daily increase in new applications of over 150%. Among them, applications with a back - end account for half, covering more than 200 scenarios such as education, business, content creation, and enterprise services, and creating a total economic and efficiency value of over 5 billion yuan.
DreamTech officially releases the new - generation basic model architecture Neural4D - 2.5
36Kr learned that recently, at the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Theme Event of the 2025 Shenzhen Global Investment Promotion Conference, AI startup DreamTech officially released its new - generation basic model architecture Neural4D - 2.5. It is understood that the Neural4D - 2.5 architecture uses the "native 3D texture mapping and perception integration" technology, which expands the cognitive boundary of AI models through the ultra - long context understanding ability of millions of tokens.
XPeng obtains the L3 - level autonomous driving road test license
On December 16, XPeng Motors has obtained the L3 - level autonomous driving road test license in Guangzhou and launched regular L3 road tests. The license is mainly used for conditional autonomous driving tests on the intelligent connected vehicle test highways in Guangzhou. At the 2025 Technology Day, XPeng Motors officially released the second - generation VLA with L4 - level capabilities, and the software is expected to be mass - produced and installed in vehicles in the first quarter of 2026. In 2026, XPeng Motors plans to launch models with both hardware and software reaching the L4 - level autonomous driving standard. (Yicai)
Today's Opinions:
European app developers call on the EU to take action against Apple's charging behavior
A coalition of 20 app developers and consumer groups on Tuesday called on European regulators to enforce EU laws against Apple, saying that after a recent US court ruling limited Apple's fees for external transactions, Apple's charging structure unfairly puts European developers at a disadvantage compared to their US competitors. (Sina Finance)
36Kr learned that on December 15, Tuozhu Technology announced the launch of the "Let's Make It" Creation Fund, which will provide long - term financial, technological, and resource support for global makers. A single project can receive a maximum of 1 million yuan, and both independent individuals and small studios can apply.
Canva officially launches a conversational AI assistant in the Chinese market
36Kr learned that at its annual sharing meeting, the visual design platform Canva officially launched the conversational AI assistant Canva AI in the Chinese market. The product simplifies the design process into a natural conversation with the core of "starting with a conversation and modifying while chatting". Users only need to describe their ideas to generate an editable first draft and can make real - time adjustments through colloquial instructions, reducing the operation threshold.
Other Notable News:
On - shore and off - shore RMB against the US dollar hit a new high in more than a year
36Kr learned that the exchange rate of the off - shore RMB against the US dollar once rose to 7.04 during trading today, hitting a new high since October 4, 2024; the on - shore RMB against the US dollar reached a maximum of 7.04 during trading, hitting a new high since October 8, 2024.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore announced on December 15 that it has awarded six contracts to purchase 660 new electric buses, including 360 single - deck buses and 300 double - deck buses. BYD, Yutong, and a consortium in cooperation with CRRC and Zhongtong Bus successfully won the bids. According to the announcement, these new buses will be gradually put into passenger service from the end of 2026 to replace diesel buses that are about to reach the legal service life. (Xinhua Finance)
The Bank of Thailand: It has taken action on the Thai baht and tightened gold - related transactions
The Bank of Thailand said that worried about the rapid appreciation of the Thai baht, it has taken action on the Thai baht and tightened gold - related transactions. (Caixin)
South Korea's M2 money supply increased for the seventh consecutive month in October
Data released by the Bank of Korea on Tuesday showed that driven by the strong domestic stock market and investment - related capital inflows, South Korea's money supply increased for the seventh consecutive month in October. According to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea, the M2 money supply in October reached 4,471.6 trillion won ($3.04 trillion), a month - on - month increase of 0.9%. (Sina Finance)