8:00 36Kr Brief | A competitor suffered from incontinence during the race and contaminated the track, HYROX China announced rectification; Institutions expect the U.S. stock market to plummet by 21% next year; Apple launches Siri artificial intelligence

Today's Hot News Guide

Kioxia is reportedly considering launching an IPO in the United States to raise 10 billion US dollars

After being criticized by Luo Yonghao, Mr. Yeren gained more than 30,000 new followers on the same day

New employees of Pang Donglai are under a four-year employment contract, which will not be renewed after expiration

Trump cancels tariffs on Irish whiskey during his visit to Ireland

Hyundai Motor Group is reportedly not considering promoting Boston Dynamics' IPO next year for the time being

TOP 3 Major News

HYROX China Announces Rectification After Athlete Incontinence Incident Contaminates Race Course During Competition

On September 12, at the HYROX Beijing Station event, Australian female athlete Joanna suddenly suffered from accidental bowel incontinence due to severe diarrhea mid-competition, contaminating the track and public equipment. She still persisted in finishing the race and won the championship, which sparked heated online discussions about venue hygiene, on-site referee handling and penalty criteria. On September 14, the event organizer released a rectification announcement, admitting that the global competition rules lack provisions for handling such unexpected emergencies, and the on-site team failed to intervene in the first place. The event organizer stated that the contaminated area had been enclosed and fully disinfected after the incident, and all carpets were replaced after the competition. Meanwhile, it will submit a proposal to its global headquarters to improve the detailed competition rules, upgrade the disinfection procedures for venues and equipment before and during races, and announce that anyone who engages in online harassment against the involved athlete will be banned from participating in its events. (Jiemian News)

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Institutions predict that U.S. stocks will plummet by 21% next year, and the "AI-led stock market boom is likely to collapse"

According to media reports on the 13th local time, analysts said that the U.S. stock market is in the late stage of a bubble and is bound to plummet by 21% next year, while the U.S. Treasury yield breaking through 5% will mark a new era of monetary tightening. Investors should enjoy the last few months of 2026 while they can, as the AI-led stock market boom is about to burst. According to the above report, James Reilly, senior market economist at Capital Economics, a well-known British economic research institution, reaffirmed the previous forecast: the S&P 500 index will close at 8250 points at the end of this year, up 7.7% from the close on September 11, and then plummet by 21% to 6500 points by the end of 2027. (China News Finance)

Apple Launches Siri Artificial Intelligence

Apple has launched Siri AI. The Siri AI starts its English-language testing today, and will be expanded to 5 languages in the future. The Siri AI will not be available in the European Union at the initial stage on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS. (CLS)

AI Frontier

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash Launched on Qwen AI Platform

36Kr learned that on September 14, Alibaba Cloud announced that DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash has been officially launched on the Qwen AI Platform, and the relevant API services and Token Plan are open simultaneously.

The world's first artificial intelligence + brain-computer interface standard released in China

On September 14, the National Medical Products Administration approved and released China's third brain-computer interface medical device standard, which is also the world's first brain-computer interface medical device product standard that adopts artificial intelligence technology to process EEG data. The new standard will be officially implemented on September 1 next year. It is understood that the new standard systematically standardizes the technical requirements and test methods for the whole process of brain-computer interface medical devices, including data collection, processing, labeling, storage and access, helping enterprises solve common problems such as inconsistent quality control standards for data sets and non-standard construction processes of brain-computer interface medical devices. (CCTV News)

Elon Musk says he is extremely confident of sending NVIDIA AI computers into space next year

On September 13 local time, Elon Musk stated in a reply to a user on a social platform: "I am extremely confident that SpaceX will send the NVIDIA VR NLV72 AI computer into space next year." (Jiemian News)

Unitree Robotics Upgrades Its G1 Robot

36kr has learned that Unitree Robotics announced on the 14th that its humanoid robot G1 has been fully upgraded, and the G1+ has been officially launched. The G1+ brings a total of 6 upgrades in three major dimensions: motion performance, perception interaction and intelligent experience. While retaining the cost-effective positioning of the G1, it has focused on enhancing neck flexibility, joint motor output and thermal management, visual and tactile perception, power supply and battery life, as well as far-field voice interaction capabilities. The standard version of G1+ is priced at 95,000 yuan including tax, and the price of G1+EDU for scientific research and in-depth development scenarios has not been announced yet.

Big Companies / Major Events

Central Bank: A 500-billion-yuan outright reverse repo operation with a maturity of 6 months will be launched on September 15

36Kr learned that the People's Bank of China stated that to maintain ample liquidity in the banking system, on September 15, 2026, the People's Bank of China will carry out a 500-billion-yuan outright reverse repo operation with a maturity of 6 months (181 days) through the mode of fixed quantity, interest rate bidding and multiple price winning, and the maturity date is March 15, 2027 (postponed in case of holidays).

Yan Wentao, a post-90s partner of GL Ventures, is likely to take the position of CFO at DeepSeek

On September 14, the reporter learned from multiple independent sources that the CFO of DeepSeek is about to take office, and the candidate closest to the final appointment is Yan Wentao, partner of GL Ventures, who is currently going through the resignation procedure. Other sources said that the heads of many leading domestic investment institutions including 5Y Capital, HSG, and Dragon Ball Capital have communicated with Liang Wenfeng about this position. However, the competition around the core executive seat has always remained mysterious. A number of industry insiders believe that the job application is not the real purpose, and the real intention is to take the opportunity to communicate and exchange views, even to explore potential investment opportunities. According to people close to DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng hopes that the new CFO is a member of the post-90s generation. (Phoenix Tech)

Weilong's imported konjac flour was intercepted and returned due to excessive sulfur dioxide, customer service: this batch of raw materials was not used in any products

In recent years, konjac snacks have been the key category driving the core business growth of Weilong. The topic of a problematic batch of imported raw materials recently pushed Weilong to the top of trending searches. Information disclosed by the General Administration of Customs shows that 162 tons of konjac flour imported by Weilong from Indonesia was intercepted for exceeding the sulfur dioxide limit. On September 14, the customer service of Weilong's e-commerce platform responded to a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that this batch of raw materials had been returned in accordance with relevant regulations, was not used in any Weilong products, and had no connection with the products currently on sale by Weilong.

In response to this interception of raw materials by the customs, food industry experts suggest that Weilong should face up to public opinion concerns and quality control issues, take the initiative to release an official announcement, fully disclose the disposal process and investigation results of the problematic raw materials, make all the test data public, and introduce a third-party authoritative institution for recheck and verification. Meanwhile, it is necessary to comprehensively upgrade the supplier access, sampling inspection and traceability system, build a solid defense line for raw material safety from the source, and regain public trust. (Sina News)

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower collectively, with large-cap tech stocks mixed in performance

36Kr learned that at the close of trading on September 14, the three major U.S. stock indexes fell across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.29%, the Nasdaq fell 0.56%, and the S&P 500 index declined 0.48%. Large-cap technology stocks posted mixed performances: Intel fell more than 5%, Nvidia dropped over 3%, while Tesla and Amazon lost more than 1%; Netflix and Google rose over 3%, Meta gained more than 2%, Microsoft climbed over 1%, and Apple edged up slightly. Most popular Chinese concept stocks traded higher rather than lower: iQIYI rose more than 4%, Li Auto gained over 3%, NetEase and Pinduoduo climbed over 2%, XPeng Inc. increased more than 1%; Futu Holdings fell more than 1%, while NIO and Alibaba posted slight declines.

The proportion of bond and equity financing in the increment of social financing has exceeded that of loans

According to estimates, in the first 8 months of this year, the proportion of bond and equity financing in the increment of aggregate social financing has risen to 50.31%, exceeding the proportion of loans, which is nearly 20 percentage points higher than the same period five years ago. Among them, the proportion of corporate bonds in the increment of aggregate social financing has risen to 11.67%, up by about 5.8 percentage points compared with the same period of last year. (Securities Times)

After being criticized by Luo Yonghao, Mr. Wild gained more than 30,000 followers on the same day

On the afternoon of September 12, Luo Yonghao posted on social media that he tried the recently viral ice cream brand Mr. Wild at the airport, saying "It is very mediocre, and even bad considering its price. I can't understand how it became such a hit". He also added a sarcastic comment that "It tastes far worse than Zhong Xuegao, I miss Zhong Xuegao so much". He specially marked at the end of the post that this is just a normal comment from a consumer, "Please do not provoke me for no reason".

After the incident that Luo Yonghao made complaints about Mr. Wild, the official account of Mr. Wild gained 30,000 followers on the same day, and the total follower growth reached 400,000 in nearly 30 days. The brand has not made any official response by far. Relevant staff said they would submit the related questions to the management. Netizens in the comment section suggested: Do not make any response. (China Blue News)

NVIDIA, Palantir and Other Firms Are Reportedly Restricting the Use of OpenAI and Anthropic's Most Advanced AI Models

On September 14, it was reported that NVIDIA, Palantir and Booz Allen Hamilton are requiring OpenAI and Anthropic to provide new security guarantees, and are reducing or ceasing the use of the two companies' most advanced AI models. It is reported that Palantir has persuaded Anthropic to commit to providing "irrevocable" Zero Data Retention (ZDR) guarantees for all its models. Some enterprises are turning to self-developed AI models to handle more sensitive business tasks.

New employees at Pang Donglai are subject to a four-year employment contract, which will not be renewed upon expiration

On September 13, Yu Donglai, founder of Pang Donglai, released a statement saying, "From now on! All new recruits of Pang Donglai will be in trainee status. The company will do its utmost to help employees learn and understand the scientific and civilized life philosophy and lifestyle, develop independent personalities, and master relevant skills! The employment contract lasts for four years with no renewal. After the contract expires, employees will step into the society, and we will strive to cultivate more outstanding talents for the society. Those who are exceptionally professional can stay in the enterprise to work as training mentors just like teachers! We hope this group of people can live a relaxed, positive and high-quality life, and more people can bring more positive and beautiful strength to the society just like light!" Yu Donglai also stated in the comment section that employees who fail to meet the targets will not be issued qualification certificates, and such information can be publicly queried on the official Pang Donglai online platform in the future. (Source: Beijing Daily, The Paper)

GAC Group Responds to Emergency Trading Halt, Both A+H Shares Temporarily Suspended Due to Unannounced Major Matters

According to the trading suspension and resumption information released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on September 14, GAC Group (601238) was suspended from trading throughout September 14 due to unannounced major matters. On the same day, the Hong Kong shares of GAC Group were also suspended before market opening. As of the end of the morning call auction, the share price opened 8.64% higher at HK$2.325 per share. A staff member of GAC Group responded: "The trading halt happened urgently this morning, because an important announcement will be released after the market closes today, but the specific time is to be confirmed, and the content of the announcement cannot be disclosed for the time being." GAC Group did not respond to the rumor that "FAW and GAC will carry out equity joint operation or strategic restructuring" which spread over the weekend. (CLS, Yicai)

iPhone 18 Pro "drops" to 9099 yuan, no unjustified return policy supported

On September 10, Apple officially released the iPhone 18 Pro series and its first foldable-screen model iPhone Duo. On the morning of September 14, the price of iPhone 18 Pro on an e-commerce platform was directly cut by 900 yuan, and the 256G version of iPhone 18 Pro is priced at 9099 yuan. Reporters noticed that the platform requires on-site delivery sign-off, users need to cooperate with couriers to unpack and activate the device, and 7-day no-reason return and exchange is not supported after activation. For this issue, the reporter from Qianjiang Video consulted the customer service staff, who said that since this product has the on-site sign-off requirement, 7-day no-reason return is not allowed after unpacking and activation, but if there is a quality problem after unpacking, the product can be returned within 7 days and exchanged within 15 days with the official inspection report. (Qianjiang Video)

Programmer ran code to delete 89TB of company data, sentenced to five years and ten months in prison

Algorithm engineer Wang used the company's computing resources to work on personal side projects. The code was not detected and terminated by the operation and maintenance team until it had been running for over 17 hours, leading to the deletion of a total of 89TB of self-developed text-to-3D assets, rendering models and all training data belonging to the AI game department. The incident paralyzed the model training system and brought all R&D projects to a complete halt. The company later reported the case to the police, and Wang was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison with a compensation of 204,000 yuan. This marks the first criminal case involving sabotage of artificial intelligence models in Beijing. (CCTV.com)

Apple Customer Service Responds to Massive iPhone 17 Price Cut: No Price Reduction Notice Has Been Issued on Apple's Official Website to Date

On September 14, the massive price cut of iPhone 17 topped the hot search list. After combining store discounts and national subsidies, the standard iPhone 17 can be priced as low as 5499 yuan at some Apple authorized stores, which is equivalent to a 1300-yuan discount; the standard iPhone 17 Pro can get a 500-yuan price reduction. In response, Apple's customer service stated: "No price reduction notice has been released on Apple's official website so far." For price reduction behaviors on third-party channels, the customer service reminded consumers to stay alert to potential risks.

In addition, the customer service confirmed that iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max have been taken off shelves on official channels, but some offline Apple direct retail stores may still have remaining inventory. The specific price needs to be inquired at the store, as no official guidance price is provided at the moment. Apple advises consumers to choose official channels first to guarantee product quality and after-sales rights and interests. (Chinanews Finance & Economics)

Samsung and SK Hynix Reject Korea Electric Power Corporation's 25 Trillion Won Prepayment Plan

On September 14, according to reports, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have rejected the proposal from Korea Electric Power Corporation that the two companies make a total prepayment of 25 trillion won in electricity bills paid in 5 years. The report stated that the two companies believe that making huge advance payments under the uncertain future industry environment may impose a burden on their medium and long-term business strategies. Korea Electric Power Corporation once proposed that Samsung and SK Hynix prepay 20 trillion won and 5 trillion won in electricity bills respectively, and noted that these prepayment funds will be mainly invested in core power grid infrastructure. (Cailian Press)

Trump Cancels Irish Whiskey Tariffs During His Visit to Ireland

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would cancel the tariffs imposed on Irish whiskey, aiming to restore a fair competitive environment for Irish whiskey, Scotch whiskey and Northern Irish whiskey. This unexpected statement was released at the end of his two-day visit to Ireland. (Sina Finance)

Michael Dell's family office reportedly leads $7.7 billion acquisition of Baldwin

A consortium formed by DFO Management, the family office under Michael Dell, and Sequence Holdings is close to finalizing an agreement to privatize U.S. insurance brokerage firm The Baldwin Group. According to people familiar with the matter, the proposed offer is $32.50 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $7.7 billion. If no obstacles emerge in the final stage, the transaction may be announced soon. (Sina Finance)

Hyundai Motor Group is reportedly not considering pushing forward the IPO of Boston Dynamics next year for the time being

According to reports, Boston Dynamics, the humanoid robot company under Hyundai Motor Group, is unlikely to launch an initial public offering (IPO) next year. Executives of Hyundai Motor Group stated that Boston Dynamics has not yet achieved large-scale deployment of its flagship product Atlas, and is still operating at a loss at present. Hyundai Motor Group has not publicly disclosed the timetable or valuation target for the potential listing of Boston Dynamics. (Jiemian News)

France Submits New Version of Social Media Ban for Minors Under 15 to the European Union

On September 14 local time, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a social media post that the French government had notified the European Commission of the new version of the bill banning minors under 15 from using social media on that very day. Earlier in August, France's Constitutional Council vetoed the original bill, ruling that the relevant provisions constituted "excessive infringement" on the freedom of speech and communication of young people. The new scheme no longer directly lists the social media platforms prohibited for use, but plans to impose restrictions on around 10 harmful or addictive functions, including automatic video playback, nighttime push notifications, and interactions with unknown accounts, among others. In addition, the scheme allows minors aged 13 to 15 to be granted exemptions with the consent of their legal guardians. (CCTV News)

Canadian Prime Minister to visit Europe, seeking special "associate member" status from the European Union

Canadian Prime Minister Carney will visit Strasbourg of France and Liverpool of the United Kingdom from September 15 to 17, to seek further strengthening of relations with Europe. According to U.S. sources on September 13, Carney is seeking to obtain the special "associate member" status of the European Union for Canada during this trip. (CCTV News)

Amazon Plans to Suspend Cooperation with 21 Air After the Miami Air Crash

On September 13 local time, Amazon announced on its official news blog that after the tragic incident that took place last weekend, the company has decided to suspend its operational partnership with 21 Air, the operator of Flight 7598. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel noted that the company will continue to support relevant investigations. According to reports from CCTV News, at around 2 p.m. local time on September 6, a Boeing 767-300 cargo plane of the US Amazon that took off from Puerto Rico ran off the runway when landing at Miami International Airport, triggering a large-scale emergency response and leading to the suspension of the airport's operation. The joint press conference held by the Miami-Dade Police Department and Fire Department indicated that the accident has caused at least 5 deaths and 5 injuries up to now. (Sina Finance)

Micron and SanDisk head to South Korea to compete for core semiconductor talents, as Samsung raises salaries and equity incentives to fend off poaching

According to media reports, the main battlefield of semiconductor competition has shifted to the talent war. To maintain its leading position in the market, Samsung Electronics has to take targeted measures to protect its core talents. Meanwhile, global competitors including Micron and SanDisk have also flocked to South Korea to compete for professionals specialized in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and NAND flash memory design. Whether an enterprise can secure enough core talents that can determine the technological gap has become the key to winning the competition in the next-generation memory market. Samsung Electronics is responding to the situation by increasing performance bonuses and expanding equity awards. In the first half of this year, the number of its employees decreased slightly compared with that of last year, while indicators including total compensation and book compensation cost all saw a rise. (CLS)

IPO in the Pipeline

Kioxia is reportedly considering a U.S. IPO to raise 10 billion U.S. dollars

According to reports, Kioxia is weighing a public listing in the United States, with a planned fundraising of 10 billion U.S. dollars. People familiar with the matter said that Kioxia has been in talks with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. (CLS)

Anthropic is still reportedly planning its 2026 IPO, and AI safety disputes have not changed its listing plans

On September 14, it was reported that artificial intelligence company Anthropic is still likely to carry out its initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, and has decided to list on the Nasdaq. Despite the recent attention paid to AI safety, product liability and regulatory issues, these factors have not changed the company's listing plans for the time being. It is reported that Anthropic believes that accepting a higher degree of information disclosure and external supervision after becoming a public company will instead help improve the transparency of AI safety. The company still needs to raise funds through the capital market. Although it is feasible to postpone the IPO in the short term and rely on private financing, it is not realistic to stay out of the capital market for a long time. (Jiemian News)

Indian auto parts manufacturer Victura selects Rothschild as its advisor for the $300 million to $400 million Indian IPO

According to a report by Indian media outlet *Mint* citing two unnamed insiders, auto parts maker Victura Group has appointed Rothschild as its advisor to coordinate its listing in India. Sources disclosed that Victura has already launched preliminary consultations with the investment bank. The company is expected to finalize relevant intermediary institutions in the coming months and is poised to go public later next year. The capital raised from the offering will likely be used for business expansion. (Sina Finance)

Investment and Financing

ZhipuAI Completes Approximately USD 5 Billion Financing

On September 13, Zhipu (02513.HK) announced that it has completed approximately USD 5 billion in financing, including around USD 2 billion in share placement and around USD 3 billion in convertible bond issuance. The proceeds of this financing will be mainly used for the next-generation GLM model, fully self-training system and related computing power infrastructure. According to the announcement, the placement price of Zhipu's shares is HK$714 per share, representing a discount of about 9.96% to the closing price before the announcement. The placed shares account for approximately 4.50% of the enlarged issued share capital. The convertible bonds adopt a zero-coupon structure, with the issuance price set at 100.5% of the principal, and will be redeemed at the principal upon maturity. The initial conversion price is HK$892.50 per share, representing a 25% premium to the placement price and a premium of approximately 12.55% to the closing price prior to the announcement.

The combination of zero-coupon and premium issuance is a key signal of this round of financing. As the R&D budget and capital arrangements are further clarified, Zhipu's capital foundation for continuously carrying out training experiments, promoting model iteration and improving the computing power system has been strengthened, which adds more advantages for it to participate in the next-stage competition of global cutting-edge models. (National Business Daily)

"Liangyu Xinchuang" completes tens of millions of yuan angel round financing

36Kr has learned that "Liangyu Xinchuang" has recently completed tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing. This round is led by Jinyu Maowu, with follow-on investments from institutions including Hangzhou High-tech Venture Capital, Oufang Angel, Guoxin Tonglian, Hainan Gaodi and other institutions. The raised funds will be mainly used for the R&D and iteration of three core products: high cooling capacity low-vibration wet dilution refrigerator, low-temperature measurement and control chip, and low-temperature flexible ribbon cable.

"Zhaomo Vacuum" Completes 100 Million Yuan Series A Financing

36Kr learned that recently, "Zhaomo Vacuum" announced the completion of its 100 million yuan Series A financing, led by CAS Star, with Woniu Capital, KF Ventures and Zhengjing Capital participating in the investment, and the old shareholder Shanghai Semiconductor Industry Investment continued to increase its stake. The raised funds will be mainly used for production capacity expansion, R&D and iteration of core technologies, market expansion and team building.

Cool Products

Doubao Mobile Assistant Launches Consumer Version, The First New Device Will Be Officially On Sale on September 16

36Kr learned that on September 14, the consumer version of Doubao Mobile Assistant was officially released. Based on the Doubao App, Doubao Mobile Assistant cooperates with mobile phone manufacturers at the system level, and further explores the application of AI in mobile phones around core experiences such as interaction, task execution, local memory and retrieval.

Tesla Cybercab to Make Its Debut in China, for Static Display Only

On September 14, Tesla announced that the Cybercab, its fully autonomous electric vehicle, will be publicly exhibited in Beijing and Shanghai from September 17 to 27, with venues located at Tesla Experience Store in Beijing China Central Place and the North Hall on LG1 Floor of HKRI Taikoo Hui Shanghai respectively. Tesla reminded that this event is for static display only. The availability of products and services in different regions is affected by factors such as launch schedules, regulatory requirements, and approvals from regulatory authorities, so please refer to the actual local regulatory rules and final official release for confirmation. (Sina Tech)

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Gurman Says Apple Will Launch iPhone Duo Max, With SE and Mini Models to Be Released in the Future

Mark Gurman, a Bloomberg journalist, revealed in the latest issue of the "Power On" column recently that Apple will launch the iPhone Duo Max model in the coming years, and explained the reason why Apple finally chose "Duo" as the suffix and gave up other names.

According to TechWeb reports, Gurman explicitly mentioned that iPhone Duo Max is the derivative model most likely to arrive first. It will be equipped with a larger screen size, target user groups pursuing tablet-level visual experience, and be more suitable for video watching, gaming and multitasking. In addition, Gurman also predicted that Apple may launch the iPhone Duo SE with simplified configurations to attract budget-sensitive consumers at a lower selling price, as well as the iPhone Duo Mini with a clamshell design that focuses on portability. (IT Home)

"Money-Saving Mindset" Mini Survey

Young people nowadays seem to always feel anxious about saving money. Every salaried worker may set a monthly money-saving goal, but how much of it has been actually achieved?

As soon as the salary is credited to your account, there is barely any balance left after paying off the Ant Credit Pay bill and the rent; after scrolling through social media for a while, your wallet gets much emptier after making purchases in live-streaming rooms; all your efforts for a whole month of frugal living can be wiped out by a single skiing trip... "I didn't even buy anything expensive, where did all my money go?" This has become an unsolved puzzle for contemporary young people.

Do you have the habit of saving money now? What is the biggest obstacle that stops you from saving? You are welcome to fill in the "Mini Survey on Young People's Money-Saving Behaviors" and share your attitudes towards money saving and your related achievements~

Mini Survey

Compiled by 丨 Wang Haoyang