At 8:00, Kr 36 | The official account of a Full Season Hotel in Dalian publicly disclosed special order notes of multiple guests; The founder of Gionee Mobile was reported to be selling furniture in Indonesia; Lei Jun will conduct a 15-hour live broadcast to test the battery life of the new SU7.
Today's Hotspot Guide
Siba Media: Founder Wang Zijie Passed Away at the Age of 63
National Bureau of Statistics: The Daily Average Token Call Volume Exceeded 140 Trillion, a 40% Increase from the End of Last Year
JD.com Releases the Panoramic Map of the Robot Industry Service
To Accelerate the Reshaping of Siri, Apple Arranges Nearly 200 Engineers to Train in AI Programming
Trump Issued Multiple Oil Pipeline Permits to Promote Oil Transportation between the US and Canada
Top 3 Big News
Huazhu Group's Customer Service Responds to a Dalian All Seasons Hotel Account Publicizing Special Order Notes of Multiple Guests
Recently, a post titled "Highlights of All Seasons Guests' Notes" has sparked controversy on social media platforms. The involved account, "All Seasons Hotel in Dalian xx", publicly posted special order notes of multiple guests, with captions like "I'm laughing so hard at guests' notes every day that I'm hitting the table" and "The front - desk staff have fainted from laughter in the system". Some netizens posted, saying, "An official hotel account privately posted guests' order notes online, which has led to meaningless speculations among netizens in the comment section, and some are even malicious."
In response to this incident, a reporter from Upstream News called the involved hotel on April 16. A staff member responded that the account that posted the post was not the hotel's official account, and he was not clear about who opened it. The customer service of Huazhu Hotel Group stated that after verification, the account was confirmed to be a personal account of an employee. Currently, the employee has been required to immediately deactivate the account, and a circular of criticism has been issued against the employee. (Upstream News)
Eight years after his disappearance, Liu Lirong, the founder of Gionee, was reported to be selling furniture in Indonesia
According to a report by Red Star News on April 16, many netizens reported that Liu Lirong is running a furniture company named Starlead in Indonesia. In July last year, he wore traditional Indonesian clothing and attended the opening ceremony of the Starlead showroom. After taking the stage to speak, he sat beside the company's CEO. And He Xing, the founder of Starlead, is an old subordinate of Liu Lirong. The official website of Starlead shows that the company was established in September 2023. It targets Chinese enterprises going global to Indonesia and is committed to providing modern and practical household furniture. It has more than 20 exclusive stores in Indonesia, and its customers include Haier, CATL, Xiaomi, etc. He Xing, the founder of Starlead, is an "old subordinate" of Liu Lirong.
In 2017, the shipment volume of Gionee mobile phones decreased by 10 million units year - on - year, far lower than expected. In the same year, rumors about Liu Lirong losing a huge amount of money in gambling began to spread among Gionee's suppliers. At that time, a person close to Gionee's shareholders said that Chairman Liu Lirong lost more than 10 billion in gambling, and the amount of misappropriated public funds might be about 6 billion. It was not ruled out that someone set a trap. Liu Lirong admitted in a media interview that he had gambled in Saipan and expressed remorse. "You really can't get involved in gambling. A single slip can lead to eternal regret. It's not just about how much money is involved. It will define your character and make a person's personality go bankrupt." But he said he didn't lose 10 billion, but "more than a billion", including some "borrowed" money from the company. (Red Star News)
Lei Jun will live - stream the new SU7's range test, which takes about 15 hours from Beijing to Shanghai
On April 16th, Lei Jun posted that at the beginning of last year, he once said, "I drove the standard version of YU7. With a full charge, I drove from Beijing to Shanghai on a 1300 - kilometer highway and only charged once. I was really shocked." Lei Jun said that he plans to live - stream the test of the new SU7 this time. He will start at 6:30 a.m. on the 17th, participate in and live - stream the long - distance range test from Beijing to Shanghai throughout the process, which will take about fifteen hours. In the comment section, Lei Jun replied to netizens, saying that he had been so nervous that he hadn't slept well for several days. He also responded to netizens' concerns about negative articles, saying, "What can we do? Can't we speak just because there are negative articles?" Lei Jun once revisited the topic of "only charging once in 1300 km" during a live - stream. He said that the short - video clips pushed on the platform were often edited by trolls in order to label him with "false marketing". (Jiemian News)
Big Companies/Big Events
Siba Media: Founder Wang Zijie Passed Away at the Age of 63
On April 16th, Shanghai Siba Culture Media Group Co., Ltd. issued an obituary stating that Wang Zijie, the founder of the company, passed away in Shanghai at 19:00 on April 14th due to a sudden cardiogenic disease despite rescue efforts. He was 63 years old. (Jiemian News)
Yang Lijuan Resigns as CEO of THAI and Takes Over Haidilao's Pomegranate Plan
36Kr learned that on April 15, THAI International issued an announcement stating that Yang Lijuan has resigned as an executive director and CEO of the company and will join Haidilao International Holding Limited to coordinate and promote the implementation of the "Pomegranate Plan". Public information shows that Haidilao launched the "Pomegranate Plan" in August 2024, and as of the end of 2025, 20 catering brands with a total of 207 restaurants have been launched.
The Xiaomi 18 Pro features a new AI button, supporting the activation of AI functions, control of smart home devices, and Xiaomi cars
On April 15th, the source "leo_hefeng" posted a tweet on the X platform, sharing a set of renderings that showcased the Xiaomi 18 Pro smartphone, highlighting the AI button on the side of the phone, which supports the activation of AI functions, control of smart home devices, and Xiaomi cars.
In terms of appearance, the Xiaomi 18 Pro continues the triple - camera layout and the rear secondary screen design of the Xiaomi 17 Pro. Notably, there is a new AI button on the side. This button supports customizable functions, allowing for the quick activation of AI in any scenario, while also controlling smart home devices and even being compatible with Xiaomi cars. In terms of core specifications, the Xiaomi 18 Pro is expected to be equipped with a 6.3 - inch display. The main camera and the 3x telephoto lens will use a 200 - megapixel combination, and the battery capacity will exceed 7000 mAh. (Caixin Technology)
National Bureau of Statistics: The daily average token call volume has exceeded 140 trillion, a 40% increase from the end of last year
Mao Shengyong, the deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on April 16 that the leading role of intelligent development has been continuously strengthened, and China has achieved phased breakthroughs in the commercialization and large - scale operation of artificial intelligence. As of March this year, the daily average token call volume has exceeded 140 trillion, a growth of more than 40% compared with the end of last year. The development of artificial intelligence empowers all industries and drives the rapid growth of related fields. (Securities Times)
The wave of computing power price hikes sweeps across the globe: Alibaba and Anthropic successively adjust prices, and a severe computing power shortage reappears
The wave of computing power price hikes is sweeping across the globe, and domestic and overseas giants have started a new round of price adjustments. Alibaba Cloud issued three product price hike announcements in four days, adjusting the service prices of some model units of BaiLian and the free quota of some APIs of DataWorks. Anthropic adjusted the subscription model of its enterprise - level product Claude Enterprise, changing from a fixed fee of up to $200 per user per month to charging according to actual computing power consumption. In addition, users need to pay a fixed $20 per month. CITIC Securities pointed out that the explosion of Token call volume has led to a huge surge in computing power demand. At the same time, the supply side is subject to various hard constraints, and the short - term marginal increase is limited. Currently, there is a severe computing power shortage both at home and abroad. (Caixin Press)
Study Shows: Large Language Models May "Smuggle" Their Own Preferences During Distillation
A study published in Nature on the 15th shows that large language models (LLMs) may "smuggle" certain of their own preferences into other algorithms. Even after the original features are removed from the training data, these unwanted features may still persist. In one case, a model seemed to transfer its preference for owls to other models through implicit signals in the data. The study results indicate that more thorough security checks are needed when developing LLMs. (Caixin)
JD Releases Panoramic View of Robot Industry Services
36Kr learned that on April 15th, JD released the "Panoramic View of Robot Industry Services". The panoramic view focuses on three core aspects: Collaborating with over 200 brands with the goal of achieving sales exceeding 10 billion by 2026; Relying on the super supply chain to build the world's largest embodied data collection center, and JD's after - sales maintenance service for robots will cover more than 50 cities in 3 years; Accelerating the opening of the JoyInside embodied intelligent interaction ability based on the JoyAI large - model to inject a "smart brain" into robots.
The inventory of electronic cloth remains tight, and the price increase cycle is not over yet
It is learned from the industry that the inventories of many electronic cloth (electronic-grade glass fiber) manufacturers are tight, and the inventory of some enterprises is less than ten days. The overall expansion progress of the industry is restricted by the supply bottleneck of looms, and it is difficult to replenish inventory in the short term. Industry insiders analyze that against the background that the bottleneck of looms has not been broken through and the production capacity is tilted towards high-end cloth, the high prosperity pattern of electronic cloth will continue, and the price increase cycle is not over yet. (Shanghai Securities News)
Asian billionaires pour $25 billion into the AI field, undaunted by high valuations
According to reports, despite growing concerns about the overvaluation of US AI companies, wealthy Asian investors are still pouring billions of dollars of private capital into the field without fear. According to PitchBook data, high-net-worth individuals and family offices in Asia invested a total of $24.3 billion in global AI private equity financing in 2025. The momentum has continued this year, and as of April 8, the new investment has reached $950 million. This investment boom comes as industry giants such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic PBC continue to set astonishing valuations in fundraising. For wealthy Asian investors, the allure of seizing a generational technological opportunity has outweighed the risk of a potential bubble. (Sina Finance)
Apple Assigns Nearly 200 Engineers to Train in AI Programming to Accelerate Siri's Reinvention
It is reported that in order to catch up with AI competitors, Apple is sending nearly 200 Siri engineers to a weeks-long training camp to learn how to program with AI, aiming to improve programmers' AI programming skills. It is understood that this training covers nearly 90% of the engineers in the Siri team. The training in the camp will focus on learning to use AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code from Anthropic.
Previously, the Siri team had long adhered to the traditional development model, and its application in AI-assisted programming was relatively backward. This has also led to a slowdown in the functional iteration speed of Siri in recent years, and the gap with competitors such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa has gradually widened. Google Assistant is deeply integrated with the Gemini model and has long supported multi-step composite instructions and cross-application collaboration; Amazon Alexa is compatible with more than 100,000 smart home devices, has a rich skills library, and is good at multi-device linkage control. (Jiemian News)
The probability that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in April is 98.4%.
According to the CME "FedWatch": The probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 25 basis points in April is 1.6%, and the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 98.4%. The probability that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a cumulative 25 basis points by June is 0%, the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 98%, and the probability of a cumulative 25 - basis - point interest rate hike is 2%. (Caixin Press)
Trump Issues Multiple Oil Pipeline Permits to Promote Oil Transportation between the US and Canada
According to documents released by the White House, US President Trump issued multiple oil pipeline permits on the 15th, including a permit for a new oil pipeline, aiming to promote the transportation of crude oil and oil products between the United States and Canada. The construction permit has been issued to the Bakken Pipeline Company for the construction of pipeline facilities in Burke County, North Dakota. In addition, he also issued other permits to maintain and operate existing oil pipelines located near the border areas in North Dakota and Michigan. (Sina Finance)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher collectively, and the Nasdaq achieved a 12 - day winning streak, hitting a new closing high again
36Kr learned that at the close on April 16, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively. The Nasdaq rose 0.36%, achieving a 12 - day consecutive rise and hitting a new high. The S&P 500 index rose 0.26%, reaching a record high, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24%. Most large - cap technology stocks rose. Intel and Oracle rose more than 5%, Microsoft rose more than 2%, and Meta, Amazon, and Netflix rose slightly. Apple fell more than 1%, and Tesla, Google, and Nvidia fell slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks strengthened. NIO rose more than 6%, Alibaba, Baidu, and XPeng Group rose more than 3%, and Li Auto and Pinduoduo rose more than 1%. Tiger Brokers and Pony.ai fell more than 1%.
Focusing on key areas such as power banks, the State Administration for Market Regulation launches a special campaign to crack down on false CCC certification marks
The State Administration for Market Regulation has deployed a special campaign to uphold the bottom - line of CCC certification across the country. It strengthens the supervision of CCC certification in the whole chain and in all aspects to create a safe and reassuring consumption environment. Compulsory product certification, also known as the CCC certification system, is a conformity assessment system with market access nature established by the Chinese government in line with the rules of the World Trade Organization and international common rules. Products included in the CCC certification catalogue need to obtain certificates before they can be manufactured, imported, and sold. This special campaign will emphasize the word "strict". It will conduct full - coverage supervision and inspection of designated certification institutions, focus on key areas such as power banks, electric bicycles, and gas combustion appliances, and carry out effectiveness spot checks. It will also deeply promote the pilot reform of CCC certification marks, accurately crack down on false CCC certification marks, and strengthen the traceability of product quality responsibilities. (Jiemian News)
Samsung Requests Court to Ban Illegal Strike Activities by Labor Union
A spokesperson said that Samsung Electronics filed an application with the court on the 16th, requesting to ban its South Korean labor union from carrying out illegal activities during the planned strike. The current salary dispute may disrupt the production and operation of the world's largest memory chip manufacturer. Samsung did not elaborate on the specific details of this legal action. The labor union called this move a "declaration of war" and accused the company of violating the legally protected right to strike. (Sina Finance)
Vanke Responds to President Vacancy: The Chairman and Senior Management Team Have Shared Relevant Duties
36Kr learned that Vanke A responded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Interactive Easy Platform to market concerns such as the vacancy of the president position, the BOYU business, and debt resolution. Regarding the vacancy of the president position, Vanke stated that the company's president position is currently vacant. Through board authorization and adjustments to the division of labor among senior management, the chairman and the company's senior management team have shared relevant duties, ensuring the normal operation of the company's business decision - making and the effective operation of corporate governance. Vanke also mentioned that affected by multiple factors, the company is currently facing multiple risks and challenges, and the overall business situation remains extremely severe. With the support of all parties, the group is making all - out efforts to promote reform and risk resolution work.
The international crude oil market is gradually returning to fundamental pricing, and inventory depletion continues to push up oil prices
Currently, the international crude oil market is gradually returning to fundamental pricing from the panic trading of "premium hijacking oil prices" in March. The most intuitive data shows that the premium of the near - month futures contract of New York WTI has fallen by about 60% from its peak, the China crude oil option volatility index (VIX) has been halved from its high, and at the same time, the scale of funds settled in crude oil futures has decreased by more than 40%. (Securities Times)
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon Sells $40 Million Worth of JPMorgan Chase Stock
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sold more than $40 million worth of the bank's stock on April 15th, which is his latest move to reduce his holdings and cash out. Dimon has led the bank for over 20 years. He didn't start selling his shares in the bank until the end of 2023, when he sold 1 million shares worth about $180 million. He sold about $233 million worth of shares last year and about $21 million worth of shares in February this year. He still holds more than 6.2 million shares in the bank, worth about $1.9 billion. These shares are held by Dimon, his wife, and his family trust. (Sina Finance)
Going Public in Progress
Syngenta
Syngenta is seeking to submit a confidential IPO application in Hong Kong as early as June. (Caixin)
Chunguang Group
36Kr learned that Chunguang Group has disclosed its prospectus and plans to issue new shares and go public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the near future.
Zhongke Aerospace
36Kr learned that the official website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange showed that on April 15, the IPO status of Zhongke Aerospace, a commercial rocket company, changed to "under inquiry". Zhongke Aerospace was established in 2018. On March 31, the company's IPO application was accepted and later selected for on - site inspection. In this IPO, Zhongke Aerospace plans to raise 4.18 billion yuan, and its sponsoring institution is Guotai Haitong Securities.
Huasheng Lithium Battery Materials Co., Ltd.
36Kr learned that Huasheng Lithium Battery Materials Co., Ltd. announced that the company submitted an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 15, 2026, to issue overseas - listed shares (H - shares) and to be listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On the same day, the company published the application materials for this issuance and listing on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The relevant application materials for this issuance and listing were prepared and published by the company in accordance with the requirements of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. They are draft versions, and the information contained therein may be updated and revised from time to time.
The Cutting - Edge of AI
Tencent's Hunyuan 3D World Model 2.0 Released and Open-Sourced
36Kr learned that on April 16th, the Hunyuan 3D World Model 2.0 (HY-World 2.0) was officially released and open-sourced. HY-World 2.0 is a multi-modal world model that can automatically generate, reconstruct, and simulate a 3D world based on different types of inputs such as text, images, and videos. At the same time, it supports the export of 3D assets in multiple formats (Mesh/3DGS/point cloud, etc.) and enables seamless integration with existing game workflows for the rapid generation of game maps and level prototypes.
OpenAI Exits Cooperation on Norway's "Stargate" Data Center, Microsoft Takes Over
OpenAI has abandoned the plan to directly lease computing power from the data center operated by UK AI cloud service provider Nscale in Norway. Microsoft will take over the remaining computing power of this data center. OpenAI stated that it is in talks with Microsoft to lease computing power from them. (Sina Finance)
Adobe Launches Creative Tool AI Assistant with Claude Capability
On April 15th, Adobe announced the launch of a brand - new artificial intelligence assistant designed to help users perform various tasks in its photo, video, and digital content editing software suite. This assistant will also be integrated with Anthropic's Claude AI model. (Sina Finance)
Elon Musk's xAI is reported to provide computing power support to programming startup Cursor
According to people familiar with the matter, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI plans to reach a new cooperation agreement with programming startup Cursor, allowing the latter to utilize its vast computing power. Sources said that Cursor plans to train its latest AI programming model, Composer 2.5, on xAI's infrastructure. They also said that Cursor will use tens of thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) from xAI. (Sina Finance)
StepAudio Releases New-Generation Speech Generation Model StepAudio 2.5 TTS
36Kr learned that on April 16th, StepAudio released a new-generation speech generation model called StepAudio 2.5 TTS. According to the introduction, this model has been upgraded in terms of global context control, in-text context control, zero-shot replication, and full timbre control. It is mainly targeted at scenarios such as character dubbing, audio content creation, and intelligent voice interaction. StepAudio 2.5 TTS supports using natural language for synthesis control. Currently, StepAudio 2.5 TTS has been fully launched on the "StepAudio Star Open Platform" and Step Plan.
Financial Reports of Large Companies
TSMC: Expects Gross Margin of 65.5% - 67.5% in Q2
TSMC expects a gross margin of 65.5% - 67.5% in the second quarter, compared with the market estimate of 64.1%. It also anticipates sales of $39 billion - $40.2 billion in Q2, while the estimate is $38.11 billion. (Caixin Press)
Yonghui Superstores: Net profit in Q1 reached 287 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94.40%
36Kr learned that Yonghui Superstores released its performance report for the first quarter of 2026. The report shows that the operating income in the first quarter was 13.367 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.53%; the net profit was 287 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94.40%; the net profit attributable to the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 247 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 79.55%. In addition, as of the end of the first quarter, the total number of renovated stores of Yonghui Superstores across the country reached 327.
Guizhou Moutai: Achieved operating revenue of 168.838 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 1.21%
36Kr learned that Guizhou Moutai released its 2025 performance report. The report shows that in 2025, it achieved operating revenue of 168.838 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.21%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 82.320 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.53%. It plans to distribute a cash dividend of 27.993 yuan per share (tax included) to all shareholders.
Peacebird: Net profit in 2025 was 174 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32.57%
36Kr learned that Peacebird released its 2025 performance report. The report shows that the operating income in 2025 was 6.334 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.88%. The net profit was 174 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32.57%. The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 3 yuan (tax included) for every 10 shares, with a planned cash dividend distribution of 141 million yuan. The remaining undistributed profits will be carried forward to subsequent years for distribution. The operating revenue in the first quarter of 2026 was 1.656 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.75%. The net profit was 137 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%.
Huayou Cobalt: Net profit in the first quarter of 2026 was 2.497 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99.45%
36Kr learned that Huayou Cobalt released its performance report for the first quarter of 2026. The report shows that the operating income in the first quarter reached 25.804 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.62%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 2.497 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 99.45%. The change in performance is mainly due to the increase in product sales volume and the recovery of metal prices, as well as the benefits from the recovery of metal prices such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium and the continuous release of the company's industrial integration operation advantages.
Investment and Financing
"Tashi Zhihang" Completes Over $450 Million in Pre - A Round Financing
On April 16th, "Tashi Zhihang" announced the completion of over $450 million in Pre - A round financing, setting the highest single - round financing record in the history of embodied intelligence in China. The financing was co - led by Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China, with financial funds such as Meituan Longzhu, CICC Capital, Kailian Capital, Orient Fortune Capital, and Junshan Investment participating as follow - on investors. The funds from this round will be used to accelerate the development of the general embodied large - model AWE and continuously attract industry talents. The next round of financing will be mainly used to build robots that can perform practical tasks and achieve mass production.
Cool Products
BMW to Launch Limited Edition M3 for 40th Anniversary at Beijing Auto Show
36Kr learned that BMW will launch a limited edition M3 for its 40th anniversary at the Beijing International Auto Show. The models include both sedan and station wagon versions, with only 20 units available in China each. They will be launched in the second half of 2026.
Audi executives reveal that a third China-exclusive model will be launched next year
It is reported that Sonera, the CEO of German automaker Audi, said that in order to regain market share in China, Audi plans to jointly launch a third China-exclusive model with its Chinese partner SAIC Group next year. The model is positioned as a high-end sports sedan. Sonera emphasized that the model has entered the development stage and continues the strategy of "prioritizing Chinese needs." (Jiemian News)
NAVO, the AI vision robot brand under Dreame Technology, made its debut at the Canton Fair
36Kr learned that on April 15th, the 139th China Import and Export Fair (also known as the 2026 Spring Canton Fair) opened in Guangzhou. NAVO, the AI vision robot brand under Dreame Technology, showcased its full - range of high - end AI smart camera products. It is understood that NAVO has self - developed a dedicated security chip architecture, paired with a black - light full - color night - vision engine, and pioneered the event - level AI platform AlgoMart. Six months after its launch, the order sales exceeded 60 million yuan.
AI Map
AI Map, guiding you to interpret the latest and fastest AI news. Two attacks within 46 hours. Are Americans so afraid of AI?
Compiled | Kris