Krstar Evening News | Canadian company Kepler launches 10 satellites; Rumored to leave? Xiaomi's LU Weibing posts: I'm at work today; International standard for sliding bearings led by China officially released
Large Companies:
Malaysia Temporarily Restricts Access to AI Chatbot "Grok"
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission issued a statement on the 11th, saying that it will temporarily restrict Malaysian Internet users from accessing the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot "Grok" owned by American entrepreneur Elon Musk starting from that day. The statement said that this regulatory measure was taken in view of the fact that "Grok" has been misused to generate pornographic, highly offensive synthetic image content without the consent of the parties involved, including content related to women and minors.
Canada's Kepler Launches 10 Satellites
Canadian startup Kepler Communications successfully launched 10 new low-Earth orbit satellites through SpaceX. This move is the latest progress in the company's construction of a space-based high-speed telecommunications service network.
36Kr learned that in response to investors' question "Is it true that the company has invested in commercial aerospace companies Zhongke Aerospace and Xinghe Dynamics?", Taishan Wind Energy said on the interactive platform that the company has not invested in the above-mentioned enterprises, and the above information is not true.
Is Lu Weibing of Xiaomi Leaving? Lu Weibing Posts: Going to Work Today
Recently, market news said that Lu Weibing, a partner and president of Xiaomi Group, had resigned, which attracted the attention of some netizens. Data from Weibo search terms showed that the topic "Lu Weibing of Xiaomi Resigns" had 606,000 views. It is worth noting that Lu Weibing's certified position at Xiaomi on Weibo has not changed. On January 12, Lu Weibing also reposted the dynamics of Xiaomi cars and captioned it "Going to work today", using his work status to refute the rumors of his departure.
South Korea Sets Goal of Exporting $16 Billion Worth of Food and Agricultural Products This Year
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on Monday that South Korea aims to export food and agricultural-related products worth $16 billion this year. If this goal is achieved, it will represent a 17.5% increase from the $13.62 billion in 2025, setting a new historical high again.
It was learned from channel sources that Moutai 1935 may implement a new price, and both the payment price and the retail price are expected to be lowered. Among them, the payment price may be lowered from 798 yuan per bottle to 668 yuan per bottle; the previous suggested retail price of Moutai 1935 was 1,188 yuan per bottle; currently, its price on iMoutai is 738 yuan per bottle. After the payment price for dealers is lowered, based on the latest retail price, Moutai 1935 is still expected to have a gross profit margin of nearly 10%. In 2025, the sales of Moutai 1935 exceeded 10 billion yuan, making it a core product in Moutai's sauce-flavored liquor series.
The "Are You Dead?" App Is Considering Raising $500,000 in Financing
In the simple white-and-green color-matched page, there is only a "Sign in Today" function, and below it shows: If you don't sign in for two days, the system will notify your emergency contact by email in your name the next day. Recently, this app called "Are You Dead?" has become extremely popular. Mr. Lu, the founder of Yuejing (Zhengzhou) Technology Service Company, the developer of the "Are You Dead?" app, said that the early cost was less than 1,500 yuan, and the current download volume is about 300 times more than before. It mainly relies on users purchasing the app to make a profit, and the price is expected to rise to 14 or 15 yuan later. "We are still considering raising financing, with an amount of about $500,000."
It was reported that thanks to the efforts of DRAM and NAND Flash manufacturers to boost shipments, memory packaging and testing factories such as Powertech Technology, Huadong Technology, and Nanya Technology have received a flood of orders, and their capacity utilization rates are almost full. They have recently successively raised their packaging and testing prices, with an increase of up to 30%. Relevant packaging and testing factories revealed that "the orders are really too full, and a second round of price hikes is not ruled out later."
Investment and Financing:
Independent Variable Robotics announced that it has completed a Round A++ financing of 1 billion yuan. This round of financing was jointly invested by top investment institutions and diversified local platforms such as ByteDance, Sequoia Capital China, Beijing Information Industry Development Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, Nanshan Strategic Emerging Industry Investment, and Wuxi Venture Capital. It is understood that this is also the first investment made by the AI fund of Shenzhen Capital Group since its establishment. It is worth noting that in addition to ByteDance, Independent Variable has also received investments from Meituan and Alibaba in previous financing rounds. It is the only embodied intelligence enterprise in China that has received investments from these three major Internet companies.
OpenAI Reaches a New Cooperation with SoftBank and Will Invest $1 Billion in SB Energy
SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, is collaborating with OpenAI to help OpenAI develop its artificial intelligence infrastructure platform, Stargate. As part of this partnership, OpenAI and SoftBank will each invest $500 million in SB Energy.
Allegiant to Acquire Rival Sun Country for $1.5 Billion in Cash and Stock
Allegiant announced on Sunday that it will acquire its low-cost airline rival, Sun Country, for $1.5 billion in cash and stock. This merger plan between the two airlines comes at a time when the U.S. low-cost airline industry is facing soaring costs and pressure to expand domestic capacity in the post-pandemic era.
Today's Views:
China Securities Construction Investment: The Risk of a Short-Term Technical Correction Increases
36Kr learned that China Securities Construction Investment pointed out that from the perspective of market sentiment, it believes that the cross-year market is expected to continue, but the risk of a short-term technical correction has increased. Overall, China Securities Construction Investment continues to be optimistic about the cross-year market, and the industries are mainly centered around future industry hotspots, AI and semiconductors, and the resource price increase chain. In the medium to long term, the market will fluctuate upwards, and investors should pay attention to the switch between phased offensive and tactical defense. It is optimistic that technology and resource products will become the two core investment themes for A-shares this year. At the same time, it is expected that the rotation of industry sectors and style switching will be very frequent, and investors will pay more attention to the improvement of fundamentals and the verification of prosperity.
Other News Worth Paying Attention To:
An International Standard for Plain Bearings Led by China Is Officially Released
Reporters learned today that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has officially released the international standard "Plain Bearings - Tribological Testing of Bearing Materials - Part 1: Testing of Bearing Alloy Materials". This standard was led by China, and experts from seven countries including Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Austria participated in its formulation.
India's Satellite Launch Mission Fails
It was reported that an anomaly occurred after the launch of India's multi-satellite launch mission carried by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on the 12th, and there was a significant deviation in the rocket's orbit. The Indian Space Research Organization subsequently confirmed that the satellite launch mission had officially failed.
China Will Accelerate the Establishment of a Data Property Rights Registration System
It was learned from the National Data Administration on January 11 that the National Data Administration will further study and draw on the experience and practices of registration systems in other fields, continuously absorb the opinions and suggestions of all sectors of society, innovatively establish a registration system suitable for the characteristics of data, better promote the circulation and use of data, and release the value of data elements.