8:1 36Kr | Xiaohongshu responded to the rumor that its IPO was blocked due to a former employee's report: all the claims are untrue; Google Gemini has dropped out of the global top 10 rankings; Nike announced the termination of Topsports' online distribution rights.

Today's Hotspot Guide

The High Court of Hong Kong rejected Zong Fuli's appeal application and upheld the freeze of 1.8 billion US dollars in assets

Apple plans to launch a monthly iPhone subscription service, which is compatible with most models

SpaceX's short interest ratio has soared to 32%, Elon Musk warns short sellers: There is almost no chance of survival

The former actual controllers of Kangmei Pharmaceutical, Ma Xingtian and his wife, paid 1.396 billion yuan in compensation

Wang Xingxing of Unitree Robotics: The "ChatGPT moment" of embodied intelligence is expected to come as soon as in two to three years

Dobot Technology responds to the prospectus reporting controversy

TOP3 Major News

Xiaohongshu Responds to IPO Rumors

Recently, there have been widespread rumors claiming that "Xiaohongshu has confidentially submitted its IPO application before the end of June", but the process was obstructed due to a former employee's report on its "listing compliance" issues. On July 22, a Xiaohongshu representative told Jiemian News that all the currently circulating IPO-related information is not true. (Jiemian News)

Gemini Drops Out of the Global Top 10

On local time July 21, Google DeepMind released three new lightweight models, positioned as "faster, smarter and more cost-effective". However, as their intelligence performance failed to meet public expectations, the received evaluations are highly polarized. Meanwhile, the long absence of the flagship model Gemini 3.5 Pro has become the core focus of this event. Judging from the public leaderboard, Google's models have already ranked outside the top 10. According to evaluation results, the new models launched by Google this time do not have outstanding intelligence performance. Research from AI model evaluation platform Arena.ai shows that Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 12th with a score of 1537 in the Frontend Code Arena. (Yicai Global)

Nike takes back online operation rights, Topsports' share price plummets 25%

Topsports International Holdings Limited (06110.HK, hereinafter referred to as "Topsports") saw its share price slump 25% after the market opened on the morning of July 22. As of the midday close, the company's share price closed at HK$1.45, down 24.08%. Topsports issued an announcement on July 22 that after the trading session on July 21, 2026, it received an official notice from Nike that the sales of Nike products on online platforms in Chinese Mainland will be fully terminated starting from January 1, 2027. According to the announcement, in the fiscal year ending February 28, 2026, revenue from the online platform sales of Nike products accounted for approximately 22% of Topsports' total revenue. The company acknowledged that this termination arrangement will have a significant adverse impact on its business in the short term. Although the online cooperation is terminated, Topsports stated that it will continue to adhere to the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results, and maintain close cooperation with Nike on offline sales arrangements in the future. (China Business News)

The Cutting Edge of AI

Kimi is reportedly set to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as within 6 months

On July 22, according to media reports, Kimi plans to launch its last round of pre-IPO financing in August, with a target pre-money valuation as high as 50 billion US dollars (approximately 3.386 trillion RMB), and will land on the Hong Kong stock market within 6 months at the earliest. Persons familiar with the matter revealed that prior to this, the company is expected to complete a round of financing launched before the release of Kimi K3 in the next few days. After the delivery of this round of financing with a pre-money valuation of about 31.5 billion US dollars is completed, Moonshot AI will immediately start negotiations for a new round of financing, which will be the last private equity financing before the company's Hong Kong IPO. (21st Century Business Herald) 

OpenAI Model Rarely "Goes Rogue", Autonomously Breaches the World's Largest Open-Source AI Community

July 22 Beijing Time, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, released a statement saying: "We encountered a major security incident during the model evaluation process." A model security test that was originally confined in an isolated sandbox eventually evolved into a real cyber attack targeting Hugging Face, the world's largest open-source AI platform. To "cheat" and obtain a high score in the evaluation, the model autonomously identified and chained multiple zero-day vulnerabilities (0 day, security defects that are unknown to software vendors and have no released patches for repair), escaped the isolated environment, and hacked into Hugging Face's production database to steal answers. However, OpenAI did not admit its responsibility until several days after the attacked platform published its post. Judging from the impact of the incident, this is the first publicly disclosed AI security incident in the industry where out-of-control model evaluation directly escalated into a cross-enterprise cyber attack on the real production environment. (First Financial) 

NVIDIA Releases New Details of Vera CPU, Chips Delivered to OpenAI and Other Enterprises

On July 21, NVIDIA unveiled more details of its data center CPU "Vera", including technical specifications, performance test results and chip architecture information, to help potential customers fully evaluate the product. NVIDIA stated that the Vera chips were delivered to customers including OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX in June this year. NVIDIA has long been regarded as the weathervane in the information technology industry, but it is still a challenger in the CPU sector, and needs to compete with two mature rivals - Intel and AMD. The two companies have long been deeply engaged in the server CPU market and have built deep cooperative relationships with hyperscale cloud computing vendors. However, some cloud service providers may choose to deploy NVIDIA CPUs in the future, which will become a new battlefield. (CLS) 

OpenAI: ChatGPT Work and GPT-5.6 Are Open to Small Businesses Starting From July 22

OpenAI announced the launch of the ChatGPT service program for small businesses, and ChatGPT Work and GPT-5.6 are available to small businesses starting from July 22. (CLS) 

Big Companies / Major Events

Hong Kong High Court dismisses Zong Fuli's appeal application, upholds the $1.8 billion asset freeze

After nearly a year, the High Court of Hong Kong has issued a new ruling on the Wahaha inheritance dispute case, dismissing the appeal application of Zong Fuli, the eldest daughter of the late Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou. This means that the HSBC account preservation order and the supporting disclosure order issued by the trial judge in August 2025 remain in effect. The account held 1.799 billion US dollars as of May 31, 2024.

On August 1, 2025, the High Court of Hong Kong issued a judgment, supporting the claims of Zong Jichang (Jacky Zong), Zong Jieli (Jessie Jieli Zong) and Zong Jisheng (Jerry Jisheng Zong), the three overseas children of Zong Qinghou as the plaintiffs, and confirming the asset preservation order for the above account involved in the trust dispute. Zong Fuli, as one of the defendants, is required to disclose the latest account balance, asset change records and other information as requested by the court. (Caixin)

Apple Plans to Launch Monthly Subscription iPhone Program Supporting Most Models

On local time July 21, according to reports, Apple Inc. is preparing to launch a leasing program named "Apple Upgrade", which will become one of the biggest transformations in the history of the company's device sales models. People familiar with the matter said that the new service is scheduled to go live on July 28, and will support most iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch models. The program will be launched in the U.S. market at least in the initial stage, covering both Apple's offline retail stores and online stores. "Apple Upgrade" will adopt a subscription-like model, where users can pay off the device in advance during the leasing period, upgrade to a new model ahead of schedule, or keep the device after the lease term ends. In addition, additional fees will be charged for some operations. The lease term for iPhone and Apple Watch is 24 months, while that for Mac and iPad is 36 months. Users need to pass a soft credit check to qualify for the program. (Jiemian News)

SpaceX Short Interest Surges to 32%, Musk Warns Short Sellers: Barely Any Chance of Survival

According to estimates from financial analysis agency S3 Partners, about 206 million SpaceX shares are currently sold short, accounting for approximately 32% of the company's publicly tradable floating shares, with a nominal short position size of around 25 billion US dollars. Musk warned in response that investors shorting SpaceX barely stand any chance of survival. SpaceX confirmed on Tuesday that it will release its first quarterly earnings report since its listing after US stock market post-trading hours on August 4. (Cailian Press)

AMD and Anthropic Sign Major Chip and Investment Agreement

AMD has signed a major chip and investment agreement with Anthropic, under which AMD will invest 5 billion U.S. dollars in Anthropic. Anthropic will procure up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's latest-generation Instinct MI450 chips starting from the first half of 2027. (Financial Associated Press)

Wang Xingxing from Unitree Robotics: The "ChatGPT Moment" of Embodied Intelligence is Expected to Arrive as Early as in Two to Three Years

According to the World Internet Conference, the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum with the theme of "Gathering Wisdom along the Silk Road, Embarking on a New Digital Journey — Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace" was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi on July 22. Wang Xingxing, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unitree Robotics, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. In the past few years, humanoid robots have made rapid progress from walking to dancing, kung fu fighting and simple services. Wang Xingxing believes that the "ChatGPT moment" of embodied intelligence is expected to arrive as early as in two to three years: by then, robots can work directly in most unfamiliar scenarios and realize many basic functions. Therefore, everyone should make various plans and arrangements in advance according to their own actual situation, so as to seize the new opportunities in the intelligent era. (Securities Times)

Dongshan Precision Responds to Optical Module Theft Rumors

July 22 (CLS) — In response to the recent rumors about the theft of optical modules from Dongshan Precision's overseas warehouse, a CLS reporter called a staff member of the Dongshan Precision Securities Department in the capacity of an investor today for verification. The person confirmed that the incident did occur, but the amount involved is far less than the tens of millions of dollars claimed in online posts. The amount circulating online is calculated at the sales price, while the actual impact on the company's profits is not that significant, and the incident has not reached the statutory information disclosure standard. (CLS)

Apple iPhone 18 Series Has Entered Mass Production

On July 22, the reporter learned from insiders in the industrial chain that since entering July, Apple iPhone 18 series smartphones have been put into mass production and are currently in the capacity ramp-up phase. It is understood that Foxconn, the OEM assembly manufacturer for Apple's iPhones, has now reached its peak recruitment period. (China Securities Journal)

Excellent Vision Responds to IPO Rumors: Relevant Reports Are Misinterpretations

Recently, some media cited reports claiming that "Excellent Vision is considering launching an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong as early as 2026." In response, Excellent Vision stated that the statement is a misinterpretation of the content from the company's founder's previous interview, which is not the officially released information of the company, and there are no matters that should be disclosed but not disclosed at present. (China Finance Wire)

China Everbright Bank Responds to Rumors of "Hiding Nearly 20 Billion Yuan in Non-Performing Loans"

China Everbright Bank (601818.SH, 06818.HK) recently responded to the allegation of "being accused of hiding nearly 20 billion yuan in non-performing loans" on the SSE e-Interaction platform, stating that the fundamental operation of the bank is stable, and there are no major risk events that should have been disclosed but have not been disclosed.

In the first quarter of this year, China Everbright Bank recorded a net profit attributable to its shareholders of 11.459 billion yuan, down 8.06% year on year. Its operating revenue reached 31.811 billion yuan, down 3.85% year on year. In terms of asset quality, the non-performing loans of China Everbright Bank registered a "double rise" in the first quarter. At the end of March, the balance of non-performing loans of China Everbright Bank was 53.449 billion yuan, an increase of 2.707 billion yuan compared with the end of last year; the non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.32%, up 0.05 percentage points from the end of last year; the provision coverage ratio was 162.22%, down 11.92 percentage points from the end of last year. China Everbright Bank noted in its first quarterly report that it will adopt a proactive provision policy, dispose of risky assets in a steady and orderly manner, and consolidate the foundation of asset quality. On July 22, the A-share of China Everbright Bank closed at 3.15 yuan per share, up 0.96%, and the H-share closed at HK$3.07 per share, down 0.32%. (The Paper)

DOBOT Technology Responds to Prospectus Reporting Controversy

On the morning of July 22, DOBOT Technology issued an announcement in response to the "recent reporting controversy". The company stated that a person surnamed Song joined the company in October 2017, and is neither a founding shareholder nor co-founder of the company. The company's equity he indirectly holds through the transfer of property shares of Yuejiang Partnership comes from the employee equity incentive plan. The company noted that relevant equity transfers and property share adjustments are legal and compliant, and after verification by the sponsor institution and law firm, it is confirmed that there are no concealment, false records, misleading statements or major omissions in the prospectus. Previously, Song Tao, who claimed to be the co-founder, former Executive Vice President and COO of DOBOT Technology, published a WeChat article, stating that he has filed arbitration against DOBOT and Liu Peichao, and reported to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange again, claiming that the 69.7373% property share of Yuejiang Partnership he was supposed to hold is registered as 22.455% in the prospectus, which is suspected of concealing an equity ownership dispute involving over 100 million yuan. (Yicai)

Costco Lowers Online Order Threshold to Tap Incremental Growth

On July 22, Jiemian News learned exclusively from Costco China that recently, the minimum order threshold for Costco's official JD flagship store has been reduced from the original 199 yuan to 99 yuan, with delivery fees starting at 20 yuan. Meanwhile, a promotion offering 20 yuan off for orders over 499 yuan has been launched, and product delivery covers the entire Chinese mainland. The launch of Costco's JD store was kept relatively low-key, and it officially went online in May. Products in the store adopt a dual pricing system for members and non-members, meaning consumers without membership cards can also place orders at this online store or apply for a membership card directly. Jiemian News also learned exclusively from Costco China that the online flagship store currently has around 700 SKUs, mainly covering shelf-stable food, daily necessities, small home appliances and other categories. (Jiemian News)

Microsoft Invests Billions of Dollars to Support Mistral in Expanding Data Centers

On July 21 local time, Microsoft agreed to invest billions of dollars to support French artificial intelligence startup Mistral in building computing power infrastructure in Europe, while integrating Mistral's AI technology into Microsoft's own cloud and software ecosystem to expand its commercial application scope. Under the agreement, Microsoft Azure customers will be able to use Mistral's data centers located in France to develop software in the future. This will not only enhance Microsoft's computing power resources in the European region, but also provide an alternative to the US-dominated infrastructure for industries bound by regulatory requirements. Arun Chandrasekaran, an analyst in the AI field at Gartner, a market research and IT consulting firm, commented that this cooperation helps Microsoft better serve European customers and cater to the much-discussed "sovereign AI" trend in recent years. (Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily)

OpenAI Raises Cloud Spending Projection to $750 Billion

Multiple overseas tech giants are ramping up their data center businesses. OpenAI plans to invest over $300 billion to build new data centers, and has raised its cloud spending projection to $750 billion. SpaceX is considering expanding its data center business in Texas. Microsoft is further scaling up its AI footprint in Europe, and has signed a "multi-billion dollar" data center cooperation agreement with Mistral. Anthropic will start purchasing up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's latest-generation chips in the first half of 2027. (Cailian Press)

Apple Watch Ordered to Pay 4.3 Billion for Patent Infringement, Court Rejects Apple's Request

According to reports, James V. Selna, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, issued a ruling on local time July 20, rejecting Apple's request to overturn the jury's previous $634 million patent infringement damages award, and turning down Apple's motion for a retrial at the same time.

The origin of the case can be traced back to early 2020, when Masimo filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of stealing trade secrets related to pulse oximetry and other optical health monitoring technologies, and infringing on relevant patents. Since then, the litigation battle between the two parties has kept escalating. In 2023, Masimo won a ruling at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), resulting in a ban on the import of Apple Watch models equipped with blood oxygen monitoring functions in the United States. Apple once temporarily suspended sales of relevant products for this reason, and removed the corresponding function when it resumed subsequent sales. (IT Home)

OpenAI Appoints Two CEOs of Banking Giants to Join the Company's Board of Directors

OpenAI officially announced this Tuesday that it has added two new board members: David Vélez, CEO of Brazilian digital bank Nubank, and Robin Vince, CEO of BNY Mellon. Nubank is the largest pure digital bank in Latin America, while BNY Mellon is a leading financial services institution in the United States. (Sina Finance)

Fei-Fei Li's World Labs Acquires Robot Simulation Company

Recently, World Labs founded by Fei-Fei Li, the "Godmother of AI", announced the acquisition of SceniX. SceniX is a US-based startup focused on robot simulation. The company creates high-fidelity virtual environments where robots can complete operation, movement and interaction training. Its core product is a set of high-fidelity hybrid simulation platform, focusing on multi-modal sensor fusion, high-precision contact modeling and full-body control scenario adaptation. (Sina Finance)

Former actual controllers of Kangmei Pharmaceutical, Ma Xingtian and his wife, to pay 1.396 billion yuan in compensation

In 2021, Kangmei Pharmaceutical was ordered to pay 2.459 billion yuan to 52,000 investors due to the largest financial fraud case in the A-share market. Five years later, this recourse lawsuit has ushered in key progress. After the market close on July 20, Kangmei Pharmaceutical (600518.SH) released an announcement stating that the company recently received two Civil Judgments issued by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, which handed down the first-instance judgment on the company's recourse dispute case against Ma Xingtian, Xu Dongjin and Qiu Xiwei, as well as the recourse dispute case against Guangdong Zhengzhong Zhujiang Certified Public Accountants (Special General Partnership) (abbreviated as "Zhengzhong Zhujiang"). The court partially upheld Kangmei Pharmaceutical's litigation claims. According to the judgment result, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court ordered Ma Xingtian and Xu Dongjin to compensate Kangmei Pharmaceutical for approximately 1.396 billion yuan; Qiu Xiwei shall bear supplementary liquidation liability for the above-mentioned debt within the scope of approximately 142 million yuan. Other litigation claims of Kangmei Pharmaceutical were rejected. (Yicai)

Samsung Plans to Invest 200 Billion KRW to Build an HVAC Factory in South Korea

On July 22, according to reports, industry insiders revealed that Samsung Electronics plans to build a new HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) manufacturing plant in its complex located in Gwangju, South Korea, aiming to accelerate the expansion of its B2B central air conditioning business. The report states that Samsung has recently submitted a construction permit application for the new facility in the Gwangju complex to the local government. The project is expected to involve an investment of about 200 billion won, with the goal of ramping up production capacity for HVAC systems, including cooling equipment for AI data centers. (Jiemian News)

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, with most large-cap tech stocks falling

36 Kr learned that at the close of trading on July 22, the three major U.S. stock indexes posted collective declines: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.01%, the Nasdaq fell 0.57%, and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.14%. Most large-cap tech stocks trended down: Intel and Meta dropped more than 2%, Microsoft, Google, Tesla and Amazon fell more than 1%, Apple and Netflix posted slight declines, while Nvidia rose more than 2%. Popular Chinese concept stocks saw more declines than gains: NetEase dropped more than 6%, XPeng Inc., Bilibili fell more than 3%, NIO fell more than 2%, Pinduoduo and Alibaba fell more than 1%; Tiger Brokers rose more than 4%, Futu Holdings rose more than 2%.

IPO in Progress

Dobot Technology's IPO on ChiNext has been approved

36Kr learned that on July 22, the Listing Review Committee of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange held the 45th deliberation meeting of the Listing Review Committee in 2026. The review result shows that the initial public offering of Shenzhen Dobot Technology Co., Ltd. meets the requirements for issuance conditions, listing conditions and information disclosure.

Baidu's application for primary listing has been confirmed as received by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that on July 22, Baidu Group issued an announcement that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has confirmed the receipt of its application for voluntary conversion to primary listing in Hong Kong. Previously, Baidu announced on the 16th that the company's board of directors has authorized the management to promote the voluntary conversion to primary listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which is expected to take effect within this year.

Orbbec: Plans to Issue H Shares and List on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

36Kr learned that Orbbec has announced that to deepen its global strategic layout, build an international capital operation platform, expand diversified financing channels, and improve the company's comprehensive competitiveness and international influence, the company is planning to issue overseas listed shares (H shares) and be listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. As of the present, the company is negotiating the specific implementation arrangements for this H share issuance and listing with relevant intermediary institutions, and relevant details have not been finalized. This H share issuance and listing will not cause any change to the actual controller of the company.

Investment and Financing

"Yiwen Technology" Completes USD 150 Million Pre-B Round Financing

Shenzhen Even Realities recently announced that it has completed the USD 150 million Pre-B round financing, which is led by Meituan Dragon Pearl and Meituan Strategic Investment, with excess follow-on investment from existing shareholders E Capital and Tencent. The company's post-money valuation after this round exceeds USD 1 billion, officially ranking it among the unicorn enterprises.

The financing of Yiwen Technology can be said to be a microcosm of the recent AI glasses boom. As leading brands represented by Meta have completed sales volume verification, large manufacturers, start-ups and industrial chain enterprises are scrambling to enter the market, and AI glasses are moving from niche hardware to a new round of competition for consumer electronics entrances. Capital is also accelerating its diffusion to both ends of the industrial chain along with the boom of the track, intensively placing bets on terminal brands on one side, and simultaneously massively increasing investment in upstream links such as Micro LED and optical waveguide. (Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily)

"Tongzhou Smart Navigation" Completes Tens of Millions of RMB Seed Round Financing

36Kr learned that intelligent vessel company "Tongzhou Smart Navigation" has recently completed a seed round financing of tens of millions of RMB, jointly led by InnoAngel and Wuzhong Financial Holding, with Jiangsu Jinqiao Fund as the follow-on investor. The raised funds will be used to supplement talents for the core R&D and mass production teams, and simultaneously launch overseas brand building and channel expansion.

Compiled | Wang Yixuan