8:00 am, 1st Kr. "Lagou.com" is reported to have voluntarily applied for bankruptcy; Tesla Model S and X are officially discontinued; Samsung memory workers may receive bonuses of up to 2.8 million yuan.
Today's Hotspot Guide
Elon Musk may become the world's first trillion - dollar billionaire
Employees of Samsung's memory division may receive a bonus of up to 2.8 million yuan
The first offline store of Dongfang Zhenxuan officially opened for business
Yu Hao of Dreame responds to "spending 40 million yuan to take employees to Disneyland"
The team of Miaoyaz APP is reported to have disbanded
Many places have announced the marriage registration data for May 20th
Top 3 Big News
Manus Founders Plan to Raise $1 Billion to Buy Back the Company
According to Bloomberg, Xiao Hong, Ji Yichao, and Zhang Tao are planning a financing round of about $1 billion, with a valuation not less than the $2 billion that Meta paid during its previous acquisition. If the plan moves forward, Manus will first re - establish itself in China in the form of a Chinese - foreign joint venture and then seek a listing in Hong Kong. However, this "reverse acquisition" is far from taking shape. The discussions are still in the early stage, the valuation is still fluctuating, and the three founders may ultimately abandon the plan. The real challenge lies in technology separation - Manus' Agentic AI technology has been largely integrated into Meta's underlying systems, and there is still no clear plan on how to "separate" it. (Phoenix Tech)
Lagou.com Files for Bankruptcy, Official Website Down, APP Removed from Stores, Founder Left Three Years Ago
On May 21st, reporters found through inquiries that Lagou.com, once a popular vertical recruitment platform in the internet industry, has filed for bankruptcy. It's worth noting that both the applicant and the respondent in this bankruptcy filing are Beijing Lagou Network Technology Co., Ltd. itself, which means "applying for its own bankruptcy". According to Jiemian News, when reporters visited Lagou.com's official website, they found that although the website could be opened, user comments on a large number of recruitment pages were last updated six months ago; the 400 customer service hotline went unanswered; the official Weibo and WeChat accounts stopped updating since March 2025; and its APP has been quietly removed from the Apple App Store.
Lagou.com was once hailed as an "internet recruitment unicorn". The company was founded in March 2013 by Xu Dandan and others, and the "Lagou Recruitment" platform was officially launched on July 20th of the same year. (China Business Journal)
The last batch of Tesla Model S and X vehicles have been delivered, and the Model S and X production lines are being transformed for mass - producing robots
Tao Lin, the vice - president of Tesla, posted on May 21st, saying that at the Fremont Factory in California, Elon Musk and the owners of the Model S/X Signature Edition witnessed the last production run of these two models.
According to Sina Technology, the Model S/X production lines here will be dismantled and reconstructed within four months and transformed into dedicated production lines for Tesla's humanoid robots, with a planned annual production capacity of one million units. The second - generation production line under preparation at the Texas factory aims for a production capacity of tens of millions of units.
Elon Musk delivered a speech at the delivery ceremony: "Model S and Model X are the cornerstones of Tesla. They are works created with love. The fundamental reason for the success of these two models is that we polished every detail with sincerity - even in places that users can't see or may never notice, the whole team poured in all their love." (Caixin and Sina Technology)
Big Companies/Big Events
BYD Denies Rumors of Acquiring Maserati
Recently, there were reports that BYD was interested in acquiring Stellantis' idle production capacity factories in Europe and was evaluating the possibility of acquiring or investing in European luxury brands such as Maserati. The news spread on multiple platforms and caught the market's attention. In response to the above rumors, on May 21st, a reporter sought verification from BYD. The company responded that the aforementioned news was "untrue" and "completely a rumor." (Jiemian News)
Elon Musk May Become the World's First Trillionaire
In the highly anticipated IPO filing submitted by SpaceX on Wednesday, there are many points worthy of attention. One of them is undoubtedly that Elon Musk will almost certainly become the world's first trillionaire. According to the S - 1 filing released by SpaceX on Wednesday, Musk directly holds approximately 5.1 billion shares of SpaceX. In addition, he also holds about 350 million stock options with an exercise price of $8.39. If SpaceX's IPO is priced at $2 trillion (which is the target valuation previously reported by the media), Musk's total net worth will soar to an astonishing $1.1 trillion. Even if valued at $1.75 trillion, combined with his $292 billion worth of Tesla shares and his equity in several other companies, he will still reach this unprecedented milestone of becoming a trillionaire. (Caixin Press)
The Xiaomi YU7 Standard Edition is released, starting at 233,500 yuan. The Xiaomi YU7 GT is officially launched, starting at 389,900 yuan
On the evening of May 21st, at the Xiaomi's new product launch event for the entire ecosystem of vehicles, homes, and people, Xiaomi officially launched the YU7 series of vehicles. Among them, the Xiaomi YU7 GT, positioned as an "authentic pure - blood GT + sports - car - level SUV", is priced from 389,900 yuan. Lei Jun said it was "designed for the elites of the era". At the same time, Xiaomi also introduced the YU7 Standard Edition, priced from 233,500 yuan, and claimed that it is the "true standard edition" of the YU7, a model that "once again challenges the sales volume of the Tesla Model Y" (IT Home)
Illustration
Lei Jun responds to only announcing locked - order data: Last year, the large orders for Xiaomi YU7 exceeded 200,000 within 3 minutes, but no one in the industry believed it and thought the data was problematic
After the press conference of Xiaomi's new products in the full ecosystem of people, cars, and homes for YU7 GT, Lei Jun, the chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, Hu Zhengnan, the vice - president of Xiaomi Group and CTO of the automotive department, Song Gang, the vice - president of the Xiaomi automotive department, and Ren Zhoucan, the chief test driver of Xiaomi cars, had a dialogue with the media. When asked why Xiaomi only announced the locked - order data, Lei Jun said that last year, the large orders for Xiaomi YU7 exceeded 200,000 within 3 minutes, but no one in the industry believed it and thought the data was problematic. So later, only the locked - order data, which cannot be refunded, was announced. (Sina Tech)
Bonus for Samsung memory workers may reach up to 2.8 million yuan
As Samsung Electronics' management and the union reached an agreement at the last minute, avoiding a strike, Samsung Electronics' stock price soared on Thursday, driving South Korea's KOSPI index to close up more than 8%. The originally planned 18 - day strike has now been suspended, and the agreement brokered by the South Korean government will be put to a vote from May 22nd to 27th. The union leader said he expects the agreement to be approved.
According to the union, under the agreement, Samsung is expected to set aside about 10.5% of its operating profit as a special bonus for the chip division, which covers Samsung's memory and logic chip businesses. This ratio is lower than the 15% previously demanded by the union. A union source also revealed that under the new agreement, a memory chip worker with an annual salary of 80 million won is expected to receive a bonus of about 626 million won (equivalent to about 2.8 million RMB) this year, most of which will be paid in the form of stocks. (Caixin)
The first offline store of Dongfang Zhenxuan officially opened, and Yu Minhong responded on-site to why they opened the store
On May 21, the first national offline store of Dongfang Zhenxuan (01797.HK) officially opened in Beijing. Yu Minhong, the founder of Dongfang Zhenxuan, appeared at the opening ceremony and responded in his speech to why they opened the offline store: "One person can sell goods online, while offline we need to hire about 10 people. For us, we earn less money, but we create more job opportunities, add a touch of the hustle and bustle of daily life, and bring convenience to the surrounding residents." Yu Minhong also said that they initially opened the offline store to serve the employees of New Oriental, but unexpectedly attracted the attention of many outsiders. This move also marks the official implementation of Dongfang Zhenxuan's first attempt at offline retail. (Jiemian News)
Zimi's Yu Hao Responds to "Spending 40 Million to Take Employees to Disneyland"
On May 21st, Yu Hao, the founder of Zimi, released a video to respond to the matter of taking all employees to Disneyland. Yu Hao said that the number of Zimi employees going to Disneyland this time should be around 50,000, including office staff, R & D personnel, front - line workers, and some employees' family members. With more than 50,000 tickets and some other expenses, the cost is about 40 million. Yu Hao also said that the visit day is a weekday, but employees' salaries will be paid as usual. Therefore, the total cost of the event may be around 70 - 80 million. Yu Hao said that the company earns money to be spent with employees, and he can't spend much by himself. According to the previous official poster of Zimi, Zimi will invite all employees to Disneyland on May 22nd. (Yicai)
Multiple normal universities are intensively adding engineering majors
In recent years, affected by various factors, normal universities have accelerated their transformation and adjustment. Not long ago, the Ministry of Education announced the results of the filing and approval of undergraduate majors in ordinary higher education institutions for the year 2025. Some normal universities also announced the situation of newly added undergraduate majors, and some normal universities are intensively adding science and engineering majors. Among them, East China Normal University, Northeast Normal University, Anhui Normal University, Chengdu Normal University and other universities are intensively adding new majors and accelerating the development of new engineering majors such as artificial intelligence education and data science. (Yicai Global)
Miaoya APP Reportedly Disbands Its Team
Recently, there have been reports that Miaoya, a once-popular AI camera app, disbanded its team at the end of September 2025. Currently, the project is only maintained with low-cost operations, and the product is no longer upgraded or promoted. On May 18, a reporter from N Video of Southern Metropolis Daily learned from an informed source that the Miaoya Camera team has indeed disbanded. However, as of now, Alibaba's Orca Entertainment has not responded to the information about the disbandment of Miaoya Camera. As of press time, the Miaoya APP can still be normally searched for and downloaded on the Android store and the Apple App Store.
Public information shows that Miaoya Camera is a camera app based on AI face recognition. It can create digital avatars for users and automatically generate different types of photos. In July 2023, Miaoya Camera announced its official launch to the public. After the product was launched, during the peak evening hours, there were 4,000 - 5,000 people queuing up, and users had to wait for more than a dozen hours to get their photos. (China Newsweek)
Letter to Shareholders from Joe Tsai and Eddie Wu: Striving to Make AI + Cloud Another Growth Driver for Alibaba
36Kr learned that Joe Tsai, the Chairman of Alibaba Group, and Eddie Wu, the CEO, jointly issued a letter to shareholders. The letter states that Alibaba's AI business has passed the initial investment stage and officially entered the commercial return cycle. Relying on the accumulation of talent, technology, and resources, we are full of confidence in seizing the opportunities of the era and are striving to make AI + cloud another growth driver for Alibaba. To achieve this vision, we are increasing our investment in full - stack AI capabilities: We will continue to increase investment in AI infrastructure construction and self - developed chips; at the model and application levels, we will invest in building stronger foundation model capabilities, attract more applications to connect, and at the same time build more powerful MaaS products to more efficiently connect models with applications.
BOE, with a market value of hundreds of billions, hits the daily limit after signing a deal with glass giant Corning
On May 21st, panel giant BOE A (000725.SZ) hit the daily limit. As of the afternoon close, the stock was priced at 4.69 yuan per share, with a total market value of 173.7 billion yuan, and the highest pending order amount exceeded 10 billion yuan. BOE A announced in a statement on the evening of May 20th that it signed a cooperation memorandum with Corning Incorporated (referred to as "Corning") on May 20th. The two parties will cooperate in key areas such as glass-based packaging carriers, foldable glass, perovskite glass substrates, and optical interconnection-related applications, and jointly explore technological and market opportunities with commercial potential. (Jiemian News)
JPMorgan Chase CEO Says to Hire More AI Talent and Reduce Banker Recruitment
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that as artificial intelligence technology becomes more widespread, the Wall Street giant may hire more AI experts and reduce the recruitment of traditional bankers. "I think it will reduce our jobs in the long run," Dimon said in an interview on Thursday. "There will be all kinds of jobs in the future. I think we'll hire more AI talent and reduce the number of certain types of bankers, which will make them more productive." (Sina Finance)
Multiple regions release marriage registration data for May 20
May 20 has become a popular day for many young people to get married because its pronunciation in Chinese sounds similar to "I love you", and many regions have witnessed a boom in marriage registrations. On May 20, 2026, marriage registration centers in various districts of Shanghai were crowded with newlyweds. On that day, a total of 3,729 couples registered for marriage in Shanghai, setting a new high in the past nine years. Among them, 1,735 couples with both partners having non - Shanghai household registrations registered under the national cross - regional marriage registration policy, accounting for 46.53%. Guangdong also saw a marriage registration boom. As of 6 p.m. that day, a total of 18,666 couples registered for marriage across the province. (Yicai Global)
Google to Invest $15 Billion in Infrastructure in Missouri
Google plans to invest $15 billion in infrastructure projects in Missouri, USA. This investment includes building a new data center in New Florence, Montgomery County. Over the next two years, the project will provide vocational training for more than 2,300 construction workers. Google has also established an energy impact fund worth $20 million to support related projects and help local families reduce their monthly electricity bills. (Sina Finance)
Meituan's Low - altitude Aviation Network for Drones Officially Put into Operation
36Kr learned that on May 21st, Meituan's drones announced that the "low - altitude aviation network" it built has been officially put into regular operation. At the same time, it launched a recruitment plan for authorized service providers targeting low - altitude logistics operators across the country. Relying on the newly released self - developed software and hardware products, it will open up its low - altitude delivery capabilities to the industry.
Lycra Company Completes Comprehensive Financial Restructuring and Exits Bankruptcy Protection Program
On May 21 local time, Lycra Company, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, announced that it completed a comprehensive financial restructuring on May 20, 2026, and officially exited the protection program under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company's total long - term debt is expected to be reduced by more than $1.2 billion, and it will receive more than $75 million in new capital injections. Dean Williams, the company's Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer and will perform relevant duties until a permanent Chief Executive Officer is determined. The company also announced the establishment of a new board of directors, with Bruce Rubin serving as the Executive Chairman. (Jiemian News)
Authentic Brands Group to Acquire Denim Brand Lee
Authentic Brands Group, a global brand and entertainment platform, announced an acquisition agreement with Kontoor Brands, Inc. to acquire the denim brand Lee. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other procedures. Currently, Lee's annual retail sales are approximately $1.5 billion, with nearly 40% coming from regions outside North America. (Jiemian News)
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher collectively, with Arm rising more than 16%
36Kr learned that at the close on May 21, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.55%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.09%, and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.17%. Most large technology stocks rose, with Arm rising more than 16%, Netflix and Amazon rising more than 1%, and Apple, Tesla, and Meta rising slightly. NVIDIA fell more than 1%, and Google and Microsoft fell slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks fell. JD.com and Bilibili fell more than 3%, while Weibo, NetEase, Alibaba, and Baidu fell more than 2%. Pinduoduo fell slightly. XPeng Group rose more than 3%.
Going Public
Bethel: Submitted an Application for the Issuance and Listing of H-Shares to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
36Kr learned that Bethel issued an announcement stating that the company has submitted an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the issuance of overseas - listed shares (H - shares) and listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On the same day, it published the application materials for this issuance and listing on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The application materials 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 changed from time to time. Investors should not make any investment decisions based on the information therein.
Green Biotech's GEM IPO to Be Reviewed on May 28
36Kr learned that the Listing Review Committee of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange has scheduled its 27th Listing Review Committee Meeting in 2026 on May 28, 2026, to review Green Biotech Co., Ltd.
Hunan Yueneng: Plans to Issue H-Shares and List on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
36Kr learned that Hunan Yueneng announced that in order to further promote its global strategic layout and build an international capital operation platform, the company plans to issue H-share stocks and apply for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This matter still needs to be submitted to the board of directors and the shareholders' meeting for deliberation, and requires the filing, approval or verification of regulatory authorities such as the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The final implementation is uncertain.
SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, plans to secretly submit an IPO application in the US
On May 20 local time, SB Energy, a clean energy company under SoftBank, announced that it plans to secretly submit a draft Form S-1 prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and intends to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the US. The company said that the specific scale and timing of this common stock issuance will depend on market conditions, other relevant considerations, and the completion of the SEC review process. (Jiemian News)
Ōura, the maker of smart rings, secretly filed an IPO application in the United States
Ōura, a smart ring manufacturer, announced on May 21 that it had secretly submitted a draft S-1 registration statement for its initial public offering to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The trading code has not been announced yet. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will serve as the lead underwriters for this IPO. (Sina Finance)
Silicon-based Intelligence Updates Prospectus
36Kr learned that according to documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Nanjing Silicon-based Intelligence Technology Group Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The joint sponsors are China Merchants Bank International and DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited.
Liuliumei Co., Ltd. Updates Prospectus
36Kr learned that according to documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Liuliumei Co., Ltd. (formerly Liuliguoyuan Group Co., Ltd.) submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The joint sponsors are CITIC Securities and Guoyuan International.
The Cutting - Edge of AI
AMD Plans to Invest $10 Billion in Taiwan, China's AI Industry and Focus on High - end Chips
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) officially announced on Thursday that it will invest over $10 billion to deeply engage in the entire semiconductor and artificial intelligence industrial chain in Taiwan, China, to help improve chip production capacity and product performance. With the continuous huge investment in global artificial intelligence infrastructure, AMD's stock price has doubled this year. (Sina Finance)
Jensen Huang: NVIDIA's Groq chips will remain niche products for some time
Jensen Huang said in a earnings conference call on Wednesday that after NVIDIA spent $20 billion to acquire Groq's technology, its customized AI chips "will be a niche product for some time." NVIDIA unveiled a new Groq language processing unit and a full data center rack filled with the customized chips (named LPX) at its annual GTC conference in March. "The LPX is designed for low latency and high token rates, but it has low throughput," Huang said. "The use cases for the LPX are not extensive." (Sina Finance)
The White House Holds a Briefing to Introduce AI Companies to the Executive Order on Reviewing AI Models
On May 21st, it was reported that the White House National Cyber Director's Office held a briefing for artificial intelligence companies on the 19th to introduce a planned executive order on artificial intelligence. The executive order will authorize intelligence agencies and other government agencies to review advanced models before their release. Companies attending the briefing include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Reflection AI. It is expected that Trump will sign the order as early as the 21st. Representatives from cloud service providers, semiconductor companies, cybersecurity companies, and banks also attended the briefing. (Jiemian News)
Tencent Launches OS-Level AI Assistant "Marvis"
36Kr learned that Tencent announced the official launch of its OS-level AI assistant, Marvis. Marvis integrates the terminal system, files, applications, computing power, and cross-terminal connections into the same AI middle layer. It comes pre-installed with an "AI team" of 6 coordinated Agents - the main Agent coordinates tasks and schedules specialized Agents such as File, Computer, App, Browser, and Search to execute tasks in parallel, and it's ready to use right after installation. Marvis also offers both an efficiency mode and a privacy mode.
Financial Reports of Large Companies
NIO: Revenue in Q1 Reached 25.53 Billion Yuan, a Year-on-Year Increase of 112.2%
36Kr learned that NIO released its financial report for the first quarter of 2026. The report shows that NIO's revenue in the first quarter was 25.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 112.2%; the operating profit was 66.8 million yuan, achieving profitability for two consecutive quarters; the gross profit was 4.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 428.4%; the company's comprehensive gross profit margin was 19.0%, reaching a new high in four years; the gross profit margin of complete vehicles was 18.8%, increasing quarter-on-quarter for four consecutive quarters and reaching a new high in four years. The cash reserve in the first quarter increased to 48.2 billion yuan, and the company achieved positive operating cash flow for three consecutive quarters. The delivery guidance for the second quarter of 2026 is between 110,000 and 115,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 52.7% to 59.6%; the revenue guidance is between 32.78 billion yuan and 34.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.4% to 81.2%.
Walmart's adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter were $0.66, in line with market expectations
On May 21st, Walmart released its first - quarter earnings report. Walmart's revenue in the first quarter was $177.75 billion, a year - on - year increase of 7.3%. The adjusted earnings per share were $0.66, in line with market expectations. Walmart issued its second - quarter earnings guidance, expecting net sales to grow by 4% to 5% at constant exchange rates and adjusted operating profit to grow by 7% to 10%. The adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $0.72 and $0.74. The company's outlook for fiscal year 2027 remains consistent with its previous guidance. (Jiemian News)
Information: OpenAI's revenue in the first quarter was approximately $5.7 billion
According to a report by The Information citing two unnamed sources, OpenAI's revenue in the first quarter was approximately $5.7 billion. The report stated that OpenAI's coding assistant Codex, along with the growth of enterprise sales and ChatGPT's advertising tests, jointly drove the revenue growth in the first quarter. (Sina Finance)
Cool Products
Global High-Speed: 12.8T Optical Modules Debut at the "Optoelectronic Exposition"
Recently, the 21st "China Optics Valley" International Optoelectronic Exposition was held in Wuhan Optics Valley. At this optoelectronic expo, HGTECH (000988.SZ) released the 12.8T XPO optical modules and 6.4T NPO solutions, which represent the current highest global rate; Accelink Technologies launched a 6.4T silicon photonics single-mode NPO product for AI computing power clusters.
Illustration
AMD Announces Mass Production of Next-Generation EPYC Processor "Venice" Using TSMC's 2nm Process
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced on May 21st that its next-generation AMD EPYC central processor, codenamed "Venice," has officially entered mass production. This chip utilizes TSMC's most advanced 2nm process technology and is the industry's first 2nm product to enter mass production in the high-performance computing (HPC) field. In addition, AMD also plans to extend the 2nm process for its data center CPUs to the subsequent new product, "Verano." (Jiemian News)
NVIDIA CFO: Production and shipment of Vera Rubin are expected to start in the second half of this year
The NVIDIA CFO said that production and shipment of Vera Rubin are expected to start in the second half of this year. The company is confident in its forecast that the Blackwell and Rubin chips will generate $1 trillion in revenue between 2025 and 2027. (Caixin)
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