8:10 am, Kr 36 | Hema responds to the incident where it mistakenly delivered daffodil bulbs instead of fresh lilies, leading to user poisoning; "Jieworui", a well - known gold platform in Shuibei, is reported to have irregular business operations; The CEO of Dreame responds to the "Finger - Cutting Plan" for the first time.

Today's Hotspot Guide

31 provinces have announced their economic growth rates for 2025.

Shenzhen Metro lends over 2 billion yuan again for Vanke to pay the down - payment for the extension.

Hang Seng Bank officially delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

ByteDance prohibits employees from using company resources to create accounts for personal gain.

During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, multiple trains offer 1 - yuan low - price tickets again.

Top 3 Big News

HEMA Responds to the Incident of Mistakenly Sending Narcissus Bulbs Instead of Fresh Lilies, Causing User Poisoning

Recently, some consumers reported that they ordered fresh lilies on the HEMA platform but received narcissus bulbs instead. After consumption, they showed symptoms of poisoning such as vomiting and abdominal pain. According to Ms. Zhou, a consumer, on January 2nd, she placed an order for fresh lilies at a HEMA mini store in Beijing to make soup for her sick child. The goods were received by the elderly at home. However, what HEMA sent was not fresh lilies but narcissus bulbs, which are similar in appearance, and the relevant labels were printed on the side of the packaging box. Without knowing the situation, the elderly made soup with the narcissus bulbs and shared it with the child. Subsequently, they both showed symptoms such as headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, and severe vomiting.

On January 28th, HEMA replied to reporters, saying, "We contacted the customer immediately and learned that the customer was sent to the hospital on the evening of the 2nd and was discharged on the 3rd. Then we established a special task - force to follow up the whole process and formulate a compensation plan. Currently, as there are still significant differences between the two parties on the compensation plan, the relevant matters are still under negotiation. We would like to express our sincere apologies to the affected customers again."

On January 28th, the person involved told reporters that she had proposed a compensation plan of 3.75 million yuan and then put forward a new plan of 480,000 yuan after the latest communication on the 27th. She told reporters, "HEMA is only willing to pay 70,000 yuan, reluctant to make a public apology, and unwilling to pop - up a reminder about toxic items on the app. I'm asking for 480,000 yuan in compensation. Currently, I'm preparing to resort to legal means and contact a lawyer to file a lawsuit." (Jiemian News, Xiaoxiang Morning News)

Well - known gold store "Jieworui" in Shuibei is exposed to have abnormal business operations. Investors claim that there are difficulties in queuing for withdrawals and payments.

According to news from Blue Whale News, recently, the run - on crisis triggered by the fluctuation of precious metal prices has put Shenzhen "Jieworui" Jewelry Co., Ltd. in the spotlight of public opinion. The amount involved in the case may reach hundreds of millions of yuan, affecting thousands of investors. A large number of users have suffered heavy losses. At present, Luohu District has set up a special working group to intervene in the handling. To appease users, "Jieworui" has introduced a withdrawal rule of a daily limit of 1 gram of gold or 500 yuan in cash equivalent, but the situation continues to deteriorate. Some interviewees said that in the initial stage, the 500 - yuan withdrawal application was credited on the same day. The second time, it took three days. Recently, all applications show "pending payment". Screenshots of many users' accounts show that the number of people waiting for payment in front reaches 20,000 to 30,000.

Jieworui recently announced that: It takes time to realize assets. For customers who reach a settlement, it will adopt the methods of installment payment or one - time discounted payment for settlement. (Blue Whale News)

Roborock CEO Responds to "Finger - Cutting Plan" Rumor for the First Time: No Doubling Salaries to Poach Employees

Recently, Yu Hao, the founder and CEO of Roborock Technology, posted on social media, giving a direct response to the rumor of the "Finger - Cutting Plan" for the first time, saying "No, it's a rumor." The so - called "Finger - Cutting Plan" refers to an unfair competition rumor of maliciously poaching employees to steal trade secrets circulating in some industries. The core of it is that some enterprises lure away core talents from competitors with high salaries, and then fire them after squeezing out their technology and business secrets.

Yu Hao further responded, "When employees join our company, the salary increase is generally no more than 20%. It's impossible to double the salary to poach employees. Because we firmly believe in long - term employment. If we poach someone with double the salary, both sides will actually feel unbalanced, and it's hard to have a long - term relationship. Saying that we poach someone, steal their technology in three months and then fire them shows a real lack of understanding of R & D." (Jiemian News)

Big Companies/Big Events

31 Provinces Announce 2025 Economic Growth Rates, Nearly Half Higher Than the Previous Year

As of January 28th, all 31 provinces across the country have announced their economic growth rates for 2025. Among them, 20 provinces had growth rates that exceeded or were on par with the national level. 15 provinces had higher growth rates than in 2024, but 16 provinces failed to achieve their initially set growth targets. According to Caixin's statistics, in 2025, Tibet continued to lead the country with a growth rate of 7%, significantly higher than other provinces. Additionally, three provinces - Gansu (5.8%), Hebei (5.6%), and Henan (5.6%) - had growth rates higher than 5.5%. Fourteen provinces, including major economic powerhouses such as Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hubei, and Shanghai, had growth rates between 5.1% and 5.5%, higher than the national average of 5%. The growth rates of Fujian and Jilin were on par with the national level. Eleven provinces had growth rates lower than the national average, and seven of them - Liaoning (3.7%), Guangdong (3.9%), Hainan (4%), Shanxi (4%), Qinghai (4.1%), Yunnan (4.1%), and Heilongjiang (4.2%) - had growth rates significantly lower than the national level. (Caixin)

Shenzhen Metro to Lend Over 2 Billion Yuan More to Vanke for Rescheduled Debt Down Payment

Vanke Group successfully extended the maturities of its three domestic bonds earlier. On the evening of January 27, the company announced that its largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro Group Co., Ltd., intends to provide an additional 2.36 billion yuan in shareholder loans to help Vanke repay the principal and interest of its public bonds. Similar to previous shareholder loans, the latest loan has a term of three years and an interest rate of 2.34%. Shenzhen Metro has also set an option for extension: upon mutual agreement between the two parties, Vanke can choose to prepay the loan; if Vanke faces financial difficulties, the debt can be extended with the consent of Shenzhen Metro. In addition, Shenzhen Metro has the right to require Vanke to provide collateral for the latest shareholder loan. (Caixin)

Hang Seng Bank Officially Delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Hang Seng Bank has been officially delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With the approval of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the listing of Hang Seng Bank's shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was cancelled at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. The plan of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited ("HSBC Asia-Pacific") to privatize Hang Seng Bank was officially announced in October 2025. On January 23, HSBC Holdings and Hang Seng Bank jointly announced that the plan for the privatization of Hang Seng Bank was approved by the Hong Kong High Court without any amendments at the court hearing held on January 23.

According to the official website of Hang Seng Bank, it was founded in 1933 and is regarded as a leading local bank in Hong Kong. It currently serves nearly 4 million customers and has more than 250 service outlets in Hong Kong. (The Paper)

Jack Ma's Latest Appearance: Sharing His Thoughts on AI

On January 27th, according to a post on the official WeChat account of the Jack Ma Foundation, recently, when Alibaba founder Jack Ma participated in the "Laba Festival Gathering" event of the Jack Ma Foundation online, rural teachers were confused about the question "In the AI era, will rural education be left behind?"

In response, Jack Ma shared some of his thoughts on AI. Jack Ma said that AI poses a challenge to rural education, but it is also an opportunity to return to the essence of education. In the AI era, we should no longer hesitate to use AI, but rather figure out how to teach our children to make good use of it. With AI, our education should no longer focus on making children compete with AI in calculation and memory, but rather on keeping children curious. Curiosity is the source of computing power. Because the gap in the AI era is not actually a technological gap, but a gap in curiosity, imagination, creativity, judgment, and collaborative ability. (21st Century Business Herald)

ByteDance Prohibits Employees from Using Company Resources to Make Profits through Account Operations

On January 28th, it was reported that ByteDance issued new social media guidelines, focusing on the governance of social media violations. The new regulations clearly require employees to actively declare accounts that conduct commercial operations in the company's name, and prohibit using company resources to make profits through account operations. A reporter from Yangcheng Evening News learned from a person close to ByteDance that the news is true.

After the implementation of the new regulations, it is expected that the number of accounts that conduct commercial activities such as content creation, knowledge sharing, and course promotion in the company's name, such as "ByteDance employees" and "Douyin engineers", will be significantly reduced. If these content creators want to continue updating, they only have two options: either "de - corporateize" and return to sharing personal experiences; or become part of the company's communication content after reporting and passing the review. (Yangcheng Evening News)

Multiple trains offer one-yuan discounted tickets during this year's Spring Festival travel rush

The Spring Festival travel rush in 2026 is about to kick off. Recently, some netizens noticed that during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, multiple trains across the country are offering one-yuan special tickets again. On January 28th, a reporter called the 12306 Railway Customer Service Center to inquire about this phenomenon. The staff member said that during the Spring Festival travel rush, the railway department will implement preferential fares for some trains by optimizing train schedules and allocating transport capacity. Due to factors such as train types and off-peak travel, the fares of these trains are usually more favorable than those of regular trains.

It is understood that the original hard-seat fares of these trains range from 8 to 9 yuan, which is equivalent to a nearly 90% discount, and the travel time is about 20 minutes. Currently, the tickets for some trains on February 10th have already been sold out. When asked how long these one-yuan discounted tickets will last, the customer service staff replied that train fares fluctuate. As for how long the one-yuan discounted tickets will be available, they are not sure, and it is subject to the information displayed on the 12306 website. (Jimu News, Hongxing News)

Amazon Announces Layoffs of Nearly 16,000 Jobs

Amazon announced an organizational restructuring on January 28th. The layoffs will affect nearly 16,000 jobs. "While making these adjustments, we will continue to recruit talent and increase investment in strategic areas and functional departments that are crucial for the future," the company said. (Jiemian News)

Guo Mingji: Apple's Pricing Strategy for iPhone 18 is "No Price Hike if Possible"

On January 28th, Beijing time, Guo Mingji, an analyst at TF International Securities who has been tracking Apple's supply chain for many years, posted on social media to predict that the memory quotes for iPhones are now negotiated quarterly instead of semi - annually. Therefore, the memory quotes for iPhones will increase again in the second quarter of 2026. Currently, the quarter - on - quarter price increase in the second quarter is expected to be similar to that in the first quarter. Apple's current pricing strategy for the new iPhone 18 in the second half of 2026 is "no price hike if possible". At least, the starting price will remain unchanged, which is beneficial for marketing and promotion. Apple has realized that after memory and T - glass, there may be other components that will also be affected by the AI server industry and face supply shortages. (Jiemian News)

The Federal Reserve Announces: No Interest Rate Cut

On Wednesday, January 28th, Eastern Time, the Federal Reserve announced the decision of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC): to keep the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%. This is the first time the Fed has paused its actions after three consecutive meetings of interest rate cuts since September 2025. In 2025, the Fed cut interest rates by a total of 75 basis points, with each cut being 25 basis points. From September 2024 to December 2025, the Fed cut interest rates by a total of 175 basis points during this easing cycle. Compared with the previous FOMC decision in early December, the biggest difference in this meeting's statement is that among the 12 FOMC voting members, a total of two voted against the decision, one less than in the previous meeting. The decision in the previous meeting was opposed by three voting FOMC members for the first time since 2019, and four non - voting members also supported keeping rates unchanged, actually meaning seven members opposed the decision. In terms of the number of opponents, the disagreement in the previous meeting was the largest in 37 years. (Wall Street News)

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, and most popular Chinese concept stocks rose

36Kr learned that at the close on January 28, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.17%, and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.01%. Large technology stocks also closed mixed. Intel rose more than 11%, NVIDIA rose more than 1%, and Google, Microsoft, and Tesla rose slightly. Netflix fell more than 1%, and Apple, Amazon, and Meta fell slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks rose. Bilibili and Futu Holdings rose more than 3%, Li Auto rose more than 2%, Alibaba, Tencent Music, and NetEase rose more than 1%, and XPeng Motors and iQiyi rose slightly. Pinduoduo fell more than 3%, and NIO fell more than 1%.

Musk Says Tesla Will Discontinue Model S and X Models and Replace Them with Optimus Robot Production Lines

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday local time that the company will discontinue the production of the Model S and Model X in the next quarter. This means that the more high - end SUV and sedan models under the electric vehicle manufacturer are about to exit the market.

"It's time for the Model S and Model X projects to be honorably retired because we're moving towards a truly autonomous - driving future," Musk said during Tesla's fourth - quarter earnings conference call. Musk said that Tesla is replacing the Model S and Model X production lines at its Fremont, California factory with an "Optimus" robot factory, with a long - term goal of producing one million robots per year. (Sina Finance)

Apple is reported to launch only the iPhone 18 Pro series and the first wide - fold iPhone Fold in September this year

Market sources said that the Apple iPhone 18 is expected to be launched in Q1 next year. Only the iPhone 18 Pro series and the first wide - fold iPhone Fold will be launched in September, and they are basically in the price range of 10,000 yuan. All new iPhone models released by Apple this fall will be equipped with 12GB of memory, including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Fold (foldable - screen iPhone), which is consistent with the 12GB of memory used in the iPhone 17 Pro series. (Caixin Press)

UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in Beijing for a Four-day Visit to China

On the afternoon of January 28, UK Prime Minister Starmer arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport by plane, kicking off a four-day visit to China. This visit by Prime Minister Starmer marks the first visit to China by a UK prime minister in eight years. During the visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with him. Premier Li Qiang and NPC Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji will hold talks and meetings with him respectively, and have in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern. It is understood that more than 50 executives of major British enterprises and representatives of institutions are accompanying Prime Minister Starmer on this visit. They cover advantageous British sectors such as finance, medicine, manufacturing, culture, and creativity, which reflects the UK's expectation to deepen bilateral economic and trade relations. (CCTV News)

Legendary stock picker Will Danoff to retire, with 10,500% return during his tenure managing Fidelity Contra Fund

Will Danoff, the world's most prolific individual stock-picking manager who has helmed the Fidelity Contra Fund for over 30 years and achieved remarkable returns, will retire at the end of this year. The leadership of the Contra Fund will be transferred from Danoff to Fidelity veterans Jason Weiner and Asher Anolic, who were appointed co-fund managers last year. Danoff joined Fidelity in 1986 and took over the Contra Fund as the sole fund manager in 1990. Since then, the fund has achieved a return of approximately 10,500%, more than twice that of the S&P 500 index, with an asset size of about $176 billion at the end of 2025. (Cailian Press)

Leapmotor establishes an electronics company in Jinhua, involving intelligent robot business

36Kr learned that according to the Aiqicha App, recently, Jinhua Ling'ai Electronics Co., Ltd. was established. The legal representative is Zhou Hongtao, and the registered capital is 120 million yuan. Its business scope includes the manufacturing of electronic components, intelligent vehicle-mounted devices, auto parts and accessories, cloud computing equipment, and the R & D of intelligent robots. Shareholder information shows that the company is indirectly wholly-owned by Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co., Ltd.

Taiping Property Insurance Changes Leadership, Li Kedong Takes Over as Chairman

36Kr learned that according to the Aiqicha App, recently, Taiping Property Insurance Co., Ltd. has undergone industrial and commercial changes. Its registered capital has increased from 7.17 billion RMB to 7.67 billion RMB, an increase of about 7%. Meanwhile, Yin Zhaojun has stepped down as the chairman, and Li Kedong has taken over. The company was established in February 1982, with Zhu Jie as its legal representative. Its business scope includes property loss insurance, liability insurance, credit insurance, guarantee insurance and other RMB or foreign currency insurance businesses. It is jointly held by China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co., Ltd. and Longbi Industrial Zone Management (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

MIIT: By the end of 2025, the number of mobile phone users in China reached 1.827 billion

36Kr learned that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the 2025 statistical bulletin of the telecommunications industry. By the end of 2025, the number of mobile phone users in China reached 1.827 billion. The penetration rate of mobile phone users reached 130 per 100 people, 22.5 points higher than the global average (107.5 per 100 people). Mobile phone users are rapidly migrating to 5G. The number of 5G mobile phone users reached 1.204 billion, with a net increase of 190 million this year. They accounted for 65.9% of mobile phone users, 2.1 times the global average, and the proportion increased by 9.2 percentage points compared with the end of last year.

In 2025, a total of 697 million person-times entered and exited the country, hitting a record high

The National Immigration Administration held its regular press conference today (the 28th). The spokesperson of the National Immigration Administration reported the main data and work achievements of immigration management in 2025 and answered questions from reporters. Reporters learned from the press conference that in 2025, the national immigration management agencies inspected a total of 697 million person-times of entry and exit personnel, a year-on-year increase of 14.2%, hitting a record high. Among them, there were 335 million person-times of residents from the Chinese mainland, 279 million person-times of residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, with year-on-year increases of 15.1% and 10.1% respectively. There were 82.035 million person-times of foreigners, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%. There were 30.08 million person-times of foreigners entering the country visa-free, accounting for 73.1% of the foreigners entering the country, with a year-on-year increase of 49.5%. (CCTV News)

Going public in progress

Mingming is Very Busy

36Kr learned that Hao Xiang Ni announced that its affiliated company, Mingming is Very Busy, was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 28, 2026, with the stock code 01768.HK. The company and its wholly-owned subsidiary hold a total of 12.5762 million shares of it, accounting for 5.8355% of the total number of shares after issuance.

The Cutting - Edge of AI

Sogou Input Method Announces Full AI Integration

36Kr learned that on January 27th, Tencent Sogou Input Method officially announced its full AI integration and released a major 20.0 AI version. The three major models of AI voice, AI translation, and AI typing have been comprehensively upgraded. It is understood that the daily average number of voice usage times of Tencent Sogou Input Method has now approached 2 billion.

Sunrise Unveils New Generation Inference Chip S3

36Kr learned that domestic GPU manufacturer Sunrise has launched its new generation inference chip, the S3. In terms of computing power and storage design, the S3 supports free switching of precision from FP16 to FP4. It is also the first domestic GPGPU product to adopt the LPDDR6 video memory solution, with the video memory capacity four times that of the previous generation, alleviating the common video memory bottleneck problem in large model inference. On mainstream large models such as DeepSeek, the inference cost per token is reduced by approximately 90% compared to the previous generation.

Financial Reports of Large Companies

Meta's Q4 revenue reaches $59.89 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24%

On January 28 local time, Meta released its Q4 financial report, showing that its revenue reached $59.89 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24%. Among them, advertising revenue was $58.14 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24%; earnings per share were $8.88, compared with $8.02 in the same period last year; the operating profit in Q4 was $24.75 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Meta expects its sales in the first quarter to reach between $53.5 billion and $56.5 billion. (Jiemian News)

Microsoft's Revenue Reaches $81.27 Billion in the Second Fiscal Quarter

On January 28 local time, Microsoft released its financial report for the second fiscal quarter, showing that its revenue reached $81.27 billion. Among them, the revenue of the Intelligent Cloud business was $32.91 billion, and the revenue of the Productivity and Business Processes business was $34.12 billion. The adjusted earnings per share in the second quarter were $4.14. (Jiemian News) 

Tesla: Achieved revenue of $24.901 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3% year-on-year decrease

36Kr learned that Tesla released its financial reports for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025. Tesla achieved revenue of $24.901 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3% year-on-year decrease; the net profit was $840 million, a 61% year-on-year decrease. The total revenue for the full year of 2025 was $94.827 billion, a 3% year-on-year decrease; the net profit was $3.794 billion, a 46% year-on-year decrease.

Starbucks: Same-store sales in the United States increased by 4% in the first quarter, exceeding market expectations

Starbucks' same-store sales in the United States increased by 4% in the first quarter, compared with a forecast of 1.88%. The company expects same-store sales to grow by at least 3% for the full year, while the market anticipates a 2.83% increase; it also predicts adjusted earnings per share of between $2.15 and $2.40 for the full year. (Cailian Press) 

New Oriental: Total net revenue in the second fiscal quarter increased by 14.7% year-on-year

36Kr learned that New Oriental announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. The total net revenue increased by 14.7% year-on-year, reaching $1.1914 billion; the net profit increased by 42.3% year-on-year, reaching $45.5 million. The company expects the total net revenue in the third fiscal quarter (from December 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026) to be between $1.3132 billion and $1.3487 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11% to 14%. Driven by the continuous growth of various business lines, New Oriental has raised its full-year net revenue forecast for fiscal year 2026.

East Buy: Total Revenue Reached 2.3 Billion Yuan in the First Half of Fiscal Year 2026, a Year-on-Year Increase of 5.7%

36Kr learned that East Buy released its interim results for fiscal year 2026. From June 1st to November 30th, 2025, the company's total revenue was 2.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. Excluding some revenues generated before the spin-off in the first half of fiscal year 2025, East Buy's total revenue during the reporting period increased by 17% year-on-year. During the reporting period, East Buy's net profit reached 239 million yuan, and the gross profit was 841.6 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%.

SK Hynix's Annual Operating Profit Reaches 47.2 Trillion South Korean Won

SK Hynix announced on January 28 that its annual operating profit was 47.2 trillion South Korean won, and its annual sales reached 97.1 trillion South Korean won. In the fourth quarter, the operating profit was 19.17 trillion South Korean won, and the sales were 32.83 trillion South Korean won. The company said in a regulatory filing that it is continuously evaluating various options to enhance the company's value, including a possible listing in the United States, and no final decision has been made. (Jiemian News)

Iflytek: Net profit is expected to increase by 40%-70% year-on-year in 2025

36Kr learned that Iflytek announced that the company expects its net profit attributable to the parent company to reach 785 million yuan - 950 million yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 40%-70%. The net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is expected to increase by 30%-60% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the total sales collection exceeded 27 billion yuan, an increase of more than 4 billion yuan compared with the same period last year. At the end of the reporting period, the net cash flow generated from operating activities exceeded 3 billion yuan. Both of the above figures reached record highs.

Cool Products

Unitree Technology to Co-launch Two Robots with Chenjing Technology, Equipped with Diguaxuri 5 Chip Solution

According to Lanjing News, Unitree Technology and Chenjing Technology will jointly launch two robots, namely the humanoid robot NOMAD and the industrial-grade quadruped robot RANGER. Both robots are pre-installed with Chenjing Technology's Insight spatial intelligence module and fully integrated with the LooperRobotics full-stack spatial intelligence solution. Among them, the Insight fully autonomous spatial intelligence camera integrates the Diguaxuri 5 intelligent computing chip with 10 TOPS of AI computing power, and a high-precision VSLAM algorithm is built into the edge side. According to the aforementioned person, "Currently, these two products have completed the preliminary verification (work) in multiple scenario projects and will officially start external shipments in the second quarter of 2026." (Jiemian News, Lanjing News)

Investment and Financing

SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI

According to people familiar with the matter, SoftBank Group is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI. The Japanese conglomerate already holds a large stake in the startup, and if the investment is finalized, its shareholding will further increase. According to previous media reports, the developer of ChatGPT is seeking to raise up to $100 billion in new funds from investors; if the full amount is raised, this round of financing will value the company at up to $830 billion. Currently, the relevant deal negotiations are still ongoing, and the terms may still change. (Sina Finance)

“ThetaWave AI”

36Kr learned from Hillhouse Ventures that today, the AI-native knowledge content platform “ThetaWave AI” announced the completion of a multi-million-dollar financing round. Hillhouse Ventures (GL Ventures), BAI Capital, and MBA Fund jointly invested in this round, and the existing shareholder Miracle Plus continued to increase its investment.

 

A Mini Survey on Young People's "Human-AI Romance"

The scale of China's AI emotional companionship market reached 3.866 billion yuan in 2025 and is expected to exceed 59.5 billion yuan by 2028. Behind these figures, more and more young people are starting to embark on a "human-AI romance" with AI. With 24/7 companionship, unconditional listening, and the ability to be customized at will... Young people seem to be having a "perfect relationship" with AI. Some say it's a comfort to relieve loneliness, while others question whether such a "relationship" can truly have warmth.

Have you ever tried a simulated romance with AI? Can AI replace human romantic relationships? When faced with mind - boggling questions such as having a sexual relationship with AI, AI initiating a breakup, or AI being unfaithful, can you accept them? Welcome to scan the QR code below to participate in the survey and share your experiences, opinions, or creative ideas!

Scan the QR code to participate in the survey

Compiled | Zixin Xu