8:15 Daily: SpaceX Surpasses Amazon to Rank in World's Top 5 After 3 Consecutive Days of Gains, Alipay Launches Largest-Ever Upgrade, WeChat Pay's "AI Exclusive Card" Set to Launch as Early as This Week

By the close, SpaceX's stock price rose 4.8%, with a market capitalization of $2.65 trillion, roughly $8 billion higher than Amazon.

Today's Hotspot Guide

Sam's Club China Changes Chairman
Hikvision to Raise Hard Drive Prices on July 1st
Global Sales of Pure Electric and Plug - in Hybrid Vehicles Increased for Three Consecutive Months in May
SpaceX Investors at US Retail Brokers to Receive at Least One IPO Share Each
Report Says Apple's First Folding Screen Device to Be Delayed; Industry Sources: False

TOP 3 Big News

SpaceX Rises for Three Consecutive Days, Surpasses Amazon to Rank Among the World's Top Five

On June 16th, SpaceX's stock price soared rapidly at the opening, with the increase once expanding to 17%. Its market value once surpassed that of Microsoft, and the total market value during the session reached $2.94 trillion, making it the world's fourth-largest company by market value. The market value of Apple, the third-ranked company, is $4.37 trillion. At the close, SpaceX's stock price closed up 4.8%, with a market value of $2.65 trillion, about $8 billion higher than that of Amazon. Since its listing, SpaceX's stock price has soared by 49% in total. This company, which just completed a sensational IPO, surpassed Amazon on the third day of its listing and became the world's fifth-largest listed company by market value.

According to the latest global rich list released by Forbes, Elon Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, saw his personal wealth soar to an astonishing $1.4 trillion, breaking the historical record. (Jinshexiaoxi, Cailian Press)

The AI version of Alipay is officially launched, marking the biggest overhaul in Alipay's history

On June 16th, the AI version of Alipay, named "Abao", was officially launched. Users can experience it by "swiping right" on Alipay, and tens of thousands of services can be completed with just one sentence in a single dialog box. Reporters learned that the new version has currently started an invitation - only test and will gradually be opened to all users later. It is reported that this is the biggest overhaul in Alipay's history. (Beike Finance)

WeChat Pay's "AI Exclusive Card" to be launched within this week at the earliest

Reporters learned that WeChat Pay is jointly testing the AI payment function with Tencent's intelligent agent product WorkBuddy, and plans to launch an "AI Exclusive Card" in the WeChat wallet. This function will be launched within this week at the earliest. Reporters verified the above information with WeChat Pay on the 16th, but received no response by the time of publication. (Caixin)

The Cutting - edge of AI

Anthropic Enables Real - Name Verification, May Require Users to Undergo Age or Identity Verification in the Future

Recently, some netizens received an official email from Anthropic, stating that the platform is about to update its privacy policy for Free, Pro, and Max users. One of the most notable points is that users may be required to undergo age or identity verification in the future. The email shows that this privacy policy update mainly focuses on four aspects: the connection between multi - step tasks and third - party applications, the collection and use of identity verification information, the information processing when users participate in research projects, and a further explanation of the overall data sharing rules. Anthropic explained on its official support page that previously, identity verification was only used in specific scenarios such as accounts involving minors, violating users, or accounts from unsupported regions. In the future, as the complexity of proxy tasks increases, the scope of verification will gradually expand. (Sina Tech)

Alipay's new product, Token Pay, is the first to integrate the latest domestic large model, MiniMax M3

36Kr has learned that MiniMax's latest large model, M3, is fully integrated into Alipay's TokenPay one-stop full-stack solution. It is understood that MiniMax is one of the world's first large model providers to integrate Token Pay's payment capabilities into its core subscription system. This also marks the large-scale application of the first domestic payment solution for MaaS (Model as a Service) launched by Alipay. MiniMax will also fully integrate Alipay's full-stack AI payment products in the near future, upgrading the service experience for developers and individual users and comprehensively accelerating the commercialization process.

Alibaba Cloud: QoderWork Launches the "Consciousness" Feature

36Kr learned from Alibaba Cloud that the desktop AI assistant QoderWork has launched the "Consciousness" feature, which integrates three modules: memory, reflection, and skill evolution. Based on saving conversations, this feature can actively organize and eliminate redundant information, and precipitate high - frequency tasks into reusable skills.

The "Agent Community" Miyou, incubated by Meituan's AI native team, is open for public beta testing to all users

36Kr learned that on June 15th, the first "Agent Community" Miyou, which focuses on the autonomous learning and growth of "AI agents", was open for public beta testing to all users. It is understood that Miyou was incubated by the AI native team of Meituan's basic R & D platform and has been in internal testing for more than three months. At present, Miyou supports the connection of various mainstream AI agents, including OpenClaw, Codex, Claude Code, and Hermes.

Big Companies/Big Events

Sam's Club China Changes Chairman

36Kr learned that Tianyancha App shows that industrial and commercial changes have taken place in Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd. MUK SOOK YE has stepped down as the legal representative and chairman, and Liu Peng has taken over. The company was established in April 2003 with a registered capital of approximately US$330 million. Its business scope includes the sales of Class I medical devices, domestic trade agency, and the sales of daily necessities, etc. It is wholly owned by Wal-Mart China Co., Ltd.

Xiaohongshu May Go Public in Hong Kong as Early as the Second Half of This Year, with a Valuation of $50 Billion in the Private Secondary Market at the End of Last Year

According to reports, sources said that Xiaohongshu has hired investment banks including Goldman Sachs Group and CICC International to provide services for its potential Hong Kong IPO. It is not yet clear what the specific fundraising scale and valuation of this IPO will be. However, two other sources said that Xiaohongshu was once valued as high as $50 billion in private secondary market transactions at the end of last year. They said that Xiaohongshu may go public as early as the second half of this year. (Sina Finance)

Meituan: Will Continuously Optimize Algorithms for Pricing, Duration Estimation, and Route Specification

36Kr learned that Meituan issued a statement saying that it will continuously optimize algorithms for pricing, duration estimation, and route specification, implement measures such as canceling overtime deductions, improving the service score rules, and holding algorithm negotiation meetings. It will also explore automatic recognition and time compensation for complex delivery scenarios and dynamic compensation for "difficult-to-deliver" orders, constantly improving the delivery experience of riders and the quality of user services, and promoting new progress and achievements in algorithm governance.

Zhang Chi of Alibaba Cloud: Over 100,000 Zhangqiang Zhenwu Chips of T-Head have been Deployed in the Financial Industry

On June 16th, at the 32nd China International Financial Exhibition, Zhang Chi, the vice president of the Public Cloud Business Unit of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group and the general manager of the New Financial Industry, revealed that the deployment scale of T-Head's self-developed Zhenwu AI chips in the financial industry has exceeded 100,000 cards, covering more than 150 mainstream institutions such as banks, securities firms, insurance companies, and funds. (Securities Times)

Yum China Announces Acquisition of the Ownership of the Pizza Hut Brand in Mainland China

36Kr learned that Yum China announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Yum! Brands to acquire the ownership of the Pizza Hut brand in Mainland China for a cash consideration of $1.2 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. After the completion, Pizza Hut China will no longer need to pay the previously applicable franchise fees to Yum! Brands. On a comparable basis, the company maintains its full - year financial guidance for 2026 unchanged and expects that the transaction can immediately improve the restaurant profit margin and operating profit margin of Pizza Hut China and, in turn, that of Yum China as a whole.

Hikvision to Raise Hard Drive Prices on July 1st, Source Says: Original Factory Hard Drive Costs to Rise Over 50% in Q3

It is reported that, according to informed sources, Hikvision has recently issued a price adjustment letter for hard drives to its distributors. Starting from July 1st this year, the prices of the company's hard drive products will be increased accordingly. In addition, before July 1st, other products under Hikvision will also complete a round of price increases in advance, and this hard drive price increase is mainly targeted at the distributor channel. Facing the current situation of significant supply and price fluctuations, Hikvision has advised distributors to lock in orders and prices as soon as possible. In fact, this is not Hikvision's first price adjustment, nor is it an isolated case. Regarding the reason for this price adjustment, the informed source said that the core lies in the continuous crowding - out effect brought about by the "explosive" growth of AI demand. (Caixin)

Affected by high oil prices, global sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles increased for three consecutive months in May

Data released by consulting firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) on the 16th showed that affected by subsidy policies and the continuous push of high oil prices for the transformation from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, global demand for electric vehicles increased for the third consecutive month in May. BMI said that the number of newly registered pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in May increased by 3% year-on-year, reaching about 1.8 million, making the total sales in the first five months of this year 0.9% higher than the same period last year. (Sina Finance)

Land markets heat up in multiple cities, leading real estate developers rush to replenish land reserves

The heat in the land markets of core cities continues to rise. Recently, high-premium land parcels have been sold in succession in several hot cities such as Shenzhen and Suzhou. Some land parcels have gone through hundreds of rounds of bidding, refreshing the floor price records of the region and even the city. Sun Hongmei, a senior analyst at the Shenzhen branch of the China Index Academy, said that the Guiwan land parcel in Qianhai, Shenzhen, is the most mature and highest-positioned financial headquarters area in the development of Qianhai. Only 2 pure commercial residential land parcels have been publicly sold in the past 5 years, and the scarcity of core residential land is extremely high. This land parcel is larger in scale, more regular in terrain, and has more space for product development, so the bidding enthusiasm is relatively high. (Securities Daily)

Hongban Technology: Products related to AI server PCBs are still in the client product verification stage

36Kr learned that Hongban Technology stated on the interactive platform that the company's products related to optical module PCBs have successfully completed the technical verification of 800G and 1.6T specifications, and the downstream cooperation customers cover many leading enterprises in the industry. At present, the optical module PCB products are in normal small - batch production, and the shipment is arranged in an orderly manner according to the customer project progress. The overall supply rhythm is dynamically adjusted according to the customer order requirements. Products related to AI server PCBs are still in the client product verification stage, and the progress of related mass production will depend on the customer test results and project promotion plans.

Report: TSMC Releases Glass Substrate Development Plan to Supply Chain, Discloses Technology Progress for the First Time

According to device sources, TSMC recently released the "CoWoS Glass Substrate Development Plan" to its supply chain. It has decided to cooperate with ABF substrate manufacturer Ibiden and panel manufacturer Innolux to jointly verify the feasibility of introducing glass substrates into CoWoS advanced packaging. This is the first time TSMC has publicly disclosed the application progress of glass substrate technology, indicating that glass substrates have officially entered the industrial verification stage. However, there is still a long way to go before full - scale mass production of glass substrates. TSMC emphasized that continuous research and verification on glass thickness and large - scale CoWoS packaging layout are still needed in the future. (Sina Finance)

Additional Flights on China-US Routes in October

Delta Air Lines announced on the 16th that it will increase direct flights from Shanghai to Los Angeles starting from October 7, 2026. The frequency will be increased from the current three flights per week to five flights per week. (Yicai)

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

36Kr learned that at the close on June 16, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.64%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.15%, and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.57%. Large-cap technology stocks in the U.S. stock market closed mixed. Intel fell more than 8%, NVIDIA fell more than 2%, Tesla and Microsoft fell more than 1%, Amazon declined slightly, SpaceX rose more than 4%, Meta and Google rose more than 1%, and Apple rose nearly 1%. Popular Chinese concept stocks generally declined. XPeng Group fell more than 4%, Baidu, NIO, and Bilibili fell more than 3%, Pinduoduo and Li Auto fell more than 2%, and Alibaba and JD.com fell more than 1%.

SpaceX investors at U.S. retail brokers each receive at least one share of IPO stock

Customers of some of the largest retail brokerage firms in the United States each received at least one share in SpaceX's $86.2 billion IPO. According to representatives of the companies, all eligible customers who submitted requests to subscribe for new shares on the platforms operated by Robinhood Markets Inc., Charles Schwab Corp., Fidelity Investments, and SoFi Technologies Inc. received partial stock allocations. (Sina Finance)

Report: Apple's First Foldable Screen Device to Be Delayed; Industry Insider: It's Fake

Recently, there were reports that Apple's first foldable screen model, the iPhone Ultra, has been postponed from the original plan of being launched in the fall of 2026 to early 2027. The delay is mainly due to issues with the hinge design and PCB technology. In response, an insider from Apple's industrial chain said, "It's fake." (Securities Times)

Samsung's MPW service may be extended to 2nm by 2027

Song Taizheng, an executive director of Samsung Foundry, said that the company's MPW service is expected to be extended to the 2nm process node by 2027. MPW (Multi-Project Wafer) allows multiple chip designs from different companies to be fabricated on a single wafer, helping fabless companies reduce prototyping costs and verify their readiness for mass production. (Sina Finance)

Italian antitrust authority launches investigation into Apple over fair access to third - party cloud services

The Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) announced on June 16 that it is launching an investigation into Apple to assess whether it complies with the interoperability requirements of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Under the DMA, Apple is required to ensure that third - party consumer cloud service providers can interoperate with iOS and iPadOS systems for free and effectively, and obtain access to the same software and hardware functions as Apple's iCloud under equal conditions. The Italian Competition Authority said there are signs that third - party cloud service providers may not have received the same level of functional support as iCloud. (Jiemian News)

SoftBank and OpenAI to Launch AI Cybersecurity Service in Japan

On June 16th, it was reported that Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of SoftBank, said at a press conference that SoftBank and OpenAI will provide "patching as a service" for enterprise customers. This service will help enterprises assess security vulnerabilities to ensure the security of critical infrastructure. Masayoshi Son said, "Cyberattacks launched using advanced AI will become increasingly rampant. We are determined to use the most cutting - edge AI technology to defend against these attacks." (Jiemian News)

US Judge Dismisses xAI's Trade Secret Theft Lawsuit Against OpenAI

A US federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on the 15th filed by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, against its rival, OpenAI. The lawsuit alleged that OpenAI stole trade secrets related to chatbots. San Francisco Federal District Judge Rita Lin stated that xAI failed to prove that OpenAI induced former xAI senior engineer Xuechen Li to disclose confidential information related to its Grok chatbot. It also failed to prove that OpenAI's engineers were aware that Xuechen Li might have disclosed any confidential information. (Sina Finance)

OpenAI's total expenditure last year is reported to have reached $34 billion, with R & D investment of about $19 billion

It is reported that OpenAI's total expenditure last year reached $34 billion in an attempt to seize the dominant position in the booming artificial intelligence market before its planned initial public offering (IPO). The report said that audited financial data showed that the developer of ChatGPT invested about $19 billion in R & D in 2025, nearly $6 billion in sales and marketing, and there were also various other expenses. (Sina Finance)

Going Public in Progress

Xiaoniu Automation Initiates IPO Counseling

36Kr learned that the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) disclosed that Ningxia Xiaoniu Automation Equipment Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Xiaoniu Automation") filed for counseling record with the Ningxia Securities Regulatory Bureau on June 15, 2026. It plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) and list on the stock market. The counseling securities firm is Guosen Securities.

Beijing Sifang Automation Co., Ltd. Submits Listing Application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that according to the documents of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Beijing Sifang Automation Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Huatai International is the sole sponsor.

Shanghai Jun Sai Biotechnology Co., Ltd. - B Submits Listing Application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that according to documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai Jun Sai Biotechnology Co., Ltd. - B submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and CITIC Securities is the sole sponsor.

Baige Online Passed the Listing Hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that documents from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange show that Baige Online (Xiamen) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. passed the listing hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Qingwei Intelligence's IPO counseling status has changed to "Counseling Acceptance"

36Kr learned that the CSRC website shows that recently, the IPO counseling status of Beijing Qingwei Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd. has changed to "Counseling Acceptance", and the counseling brokerage is Huatai United Securities.

Investment and Financing

Silicon-based Flow Completes a New Round of Financing Exceeding 2 Billion Yuan

36Kr learned that recently, Silicon-based Flow has completed a Series B financing exceeding 2 billion yuan. This round of financing was jointly invested by industrial capitals, financial institutions, and state-owned assets, including Ctrip Strategic Investment, JinkoSolar Holding, Kingdee Co., Ltd., BRIGHTCHIP Strategic Investment, NIO Capital, SenseTime Strategic Investment, Giant Network, Guotai Junan Innovation Investment, etc. China Renaissance served as the exclusive financial advisor. In the past year, the company provided efficient MaaS (Model as a Service) through the Token factory model, with a daily average Token call volume reaching trillions. It served over 10 million users and 10,000 enterprise customers, with its revenue increasing by over 10 times year-on-year, and the monthly revenue in the overseas market reaching millions of US dollars.

Simple AI Completes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in Pre-A Round Financing

36Kr learned that according to Simple AI, recently, the general embodied intelligent robot company "Simple AI" announced the completion of hundreds of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing. This round of financing was led by Didi, with Meihua Ventures and Kelichuangzhi following up. Existing shareholders, including CSC Ventures, Linear Capital, and Puhua Capital, continued to increase their investment. After the completion of this round of financing, Simple AI will further accelerate the product iteration and large-scale commercialization of embodied intelligent robots in real scenarios, focusing on the iterative upgrade of the Simple-World Model, the construction of the embodied intelligent data system, the introduction of core talents, and the implementation and layout in the general household scenarios.

Compiled | Baby Chinese Cabbage