Krypton Evening News | Meta announces an additional $40 billion investment in Louisiana data centers; ByteDance explores autonomous driving, led by the Seed World Model team; the 15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption: Optimize the inbound consumption environment and steadily expand the scope of visa-free countries

Large Companies:

Qiaqia Food: H1 Net Profit Forecast to Increase 170.75%–198.96% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that Qiaqia Food released its performance forecast, estimating that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the first half of 2026 will range from 240 million yuan to 265 million yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 170.75% to 198.96%.

Haoshanghao: H1 Net Profit Forecast to Surge 301.65%–376.03% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that Haoshanghao released its performance forecast, estimating that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the 2026 half-year period will range from 135 million yuan to 160 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 301.65% to 376.03%.

Meta Announces Additional $40 Billion Investment in Louisiana Data Center

On July 13, Meta announced that it will make an additional investment of 40 billion US dollars in the Louisiana data center, which is Meta's largest project. (The Paper)

BDStar: H1 Net Profit Forecast to Surge 2368.27%—3426.09% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that BDStar released its performance forecast, expecting the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company for the 2026 half-year period to range from 35 million yuan to 50 million yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 2368.27% to 3426.09%.

ByteDance Explores Autonomous Driving, Led by Seed World Model Team

36Kr has learned from multiple industry insiders that ByteDance is exploring entry into the autonomous driving sector. This project is currently overseen by the world model team led by Zhou Chang under the Seed division. It is understood that Seed not only houses teams for Zhou Chang's multimodal models and world models, but also covers large language model research. There is technical overlap between autonomous driving and world model development. Additional sources told 36Kr that in terms of business direction, ByteDance intends to deploy autonomous driving scenarios for unmanned logistics, a service that falls under the automotive industry line of ByteDance's Volcano Engine. Some insiders close to ByteDance stated that the company's teams previously held business discussions and exchanges with several leading autonomous driving teams, and the autonomous driving project has now entered the early preparation phase. ByteDance has extended offers to numerous top professionals in assisted driving or autonomous driving fields, and some technical talents who are optimistic about this strategic layout plan to join the initiative. When contacted by 36Kr for verification regarding the above information, ByteDance responded: "In ByteDance's cutting-edge exploration areas of large models, including the physical AI field, there are many early-stage researches and explorations, but we have no plans to develop intelligent driving services."

Western Gold: H1 Net Profit Forecasted to Surge 214.87%–258.95% Year-over-Year

36Kr learned that Western Gold released its performance forecast, expecting its net profit attributable to owners of the parent company in the first half of 2026 to reach 500 million yuan to 570 million yuan, representing a year-over-year increase of 214.87% to 258.95%.

Financing and Investment:

"Lingshuo Intelligence" Completes Series A Financing

36Kr learned that "Lingshuo Intelligence" has announced the completion of its Series A financing, with participation from CITIC Construction Investment Capital and Xi'an Finance. Previously, the company had secured its Pre-Series A financing from iFLYTEK Venture Capital and Taizhonghe Investment. It is understood that Lingshuo Intelligence is an AI company focused on the R&D and industrial application of key technologies for intelligent platforms. Its core products include the Blade Agentic OS agent operating system, the Blade Agent Box all-in-one agent machine, and the Blade Agentic OS Edge edge agent board.

Shaanxi Gold International: H1 Net Profit Forecasted to Rise 47.27%-55.41% Year-on-Year

36Kr learned that Shaanxi Gold International released its performance forecast, estimating that the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies for the 2026 semi-annual period will be between 2.35 billion yuan and 2.48 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 47.27% to 55.41%.

"Haiyi AI" Completes Over 100 Million Yuan Series B Financing

36Kr learned that SeaArt, a global AI multi-modal content interactive entertainment platform, recently announced the completion of a Series B financing of over 100 million RMB, co-led by Visual China, Huagai Chuangying, and Vertex China, with joint investment from GF Xinde, TianTou Capital, Sichuan Venture Capital, and Guangzhou Hewei Yongsheng. The funds from this round will be used for multi-modal underlying R&D, global market expansion, and incubation of vertical AI applications.

'Mojing Tech' Completes Integrated Series A and A+ Financing of 600 Million Yuan

36Kr learned that 'Mojing Tech' has announced the completion of its integrated Series A and A+ financing round, with a total funding size reaching 600 million yuan. Investors include venture capital institutions such as Lenovo Capital, Yida Capital, DT Capital, CMBC International, and Changshi Capital, as well as state-owned industrial platforms from Wuhu, Zhuhai and other regions. As a core optical technology provider for AI+AR glasses, Mojing has completed a total of 13 iterations of lightweight full AI+AR glasses systems, covering 9 generations of monochrome products and 4 generations of color products.

New Products:

The First Agent Smartphone Is About to Launch, and Several Hurdles Must Be Overcome for Large-Scale Commercial Application

The world's first AI agent smartphone is set to be showcased at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, a piece of news that has once again pushed agent smartphones into the spotlight of public opinion. Experts interviewed stated that agent smartphones will remain in the "advanced assisted execution" stage in the short term, and cannot completely bypass human-machine confirmation to achieve full-process automatic execution. In the long run, to realize large-scale commercial use, agent smartphones still need to overcome multiple hurdles including technical verification, privacy security, and benefit distribution arrangements with internet enterprises. (Securities Times)

Today's Viewpoint:

Semiconductor Wafer Sector Enters a Window of Dual Growth in Volume and Price, Public Funds Make Forward-Looking Layouts to Share Industry Dividends

As global wafer manufacturers have successively launched price increase cycles and AI computing power drives the restructuring of industry demand, the semiconductor wafer sector has ushered in a dividend window of simultaneous rises in sales volume and product prices. Driven by the price surge, as of July 12, 2026, the semiconductor wafer index has nearly doubled in value within the year, with stocks in the sector posting successive doubling gains. Leading public fund companies represented by Cathay Fund, China Asset Management, E Fund Management, and Fullgoal Fund have long placed their bets on this track in advance. Their products allocated core targets such as Silan Microelectronics, Youyan Silicon, and Shengguang Co., Ltd. respectively in the first quarter of this year, locking in the dividends of this market rally by accurately anticipating industry trends, delivering outstanding fund performance. (Securities Times)

Other Noteworthy News:

The 15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption: Optimize Inbound Consumption Environment and Steadily Expand the Scope of Visa-Free Countries

36Kr learned that the State Council has approved the "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption". The Plan proposes to expand inbound consumption. It will optimize the inbound consumption environment and build the "Shop in China" brand. The scope of visa-free countries will be steadily expanded, and the transit visa-free policy will be continuously improved. More international routes will be opened, focusing on increasing the number of direct international flights to Europe, America, and Belt and Road Initiative partner countries. The international service level of public places will be enhanced, the payment environment for inbound consumption will be optimized, and the procedures for inbound tourists to complete customs clearance, accommodation registration, transportation, telecom services, and scenic spot reservations will be streamlined. Departure tax refund facilitation measures will be improved, more tax-refund shops will be added, and the "instant purchase instant refund" service will be actively promoted. More domestic products will be encouraged to enter the port departure duty-free shops and downtown duty-free shops for sale. Highly recognizable and attractive consumer brands, cultural landmarks, and experience activities will be created. International-oriented markets for education, healthcare, exhibitions, and other sectors will be cultivated.

14 Departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs Jointly Issue Document to Promote Capacity Expansion and Quality Improvement of China's Assistive Devices Industry

Today, 14 departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly released the Three-Year Action Plan for Capacity Expansion and Quality Improvement of the Assistive Devices Industry (2026-2028). This is another important national-level document that systematically promotes the high-quality development of the assistive devices industry, following the Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Assistive Devices Industry (Guo Fa [2016] No. 60) issued by the State Council in 2016. The Plan puts forward six major actions: "Application Demonstration Leadership, Industrial Optimization and Upgrading, Innovation Capability Enhancement, Policy Efficiency Improvement, Market Environment Optimization, and Talent Team Empowerment". On the application side, it promotes the multi-scenario integration of "Assistive Devices +", builds an urban-rural service network featuring "Center + Station", and promotes shared leasing and other models. On the industrial side, it focuses on clusters such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to cultivate leading enterprises and specialized, refined, differential, and innovative enterprises, and advance the construction of smart manufacturing and green factories. On the innovation side, guided by the integration of medicine and engineering, it tackles cutting-edge technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, health and elderly care robots, and bionic prostheses, builds national-level scientific research and innovation platforms, and opens up channels for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. (CCTV News)