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Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)
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DeepSeek is being touted as China’s secret weapon in the artificial intelligence war with the US. Photo: AFP
Artificial intelligence

DeepSeek’s shock rise, China’s robot boot camps: 7 AI breakthroughs in 2025

From DeepSeek sending shock waves through tech market to China’s robot boot camps, here are some of the major AI developments of the year.

ByteDance

ByteDance raises pay, boosts bonuses to retain staff amid AI talent war

Robotics

China’s humanoid arms race: start-ups debut robots for stores, offices and factories

Semiconductors

China eyes mastery of EUV lithography, bolstering AI chip ambitions: analysts

‘As the semiconductor dream has become a national security issue, I would not underestimate China’s ambition,’ Natixis analyst Gary Ng says.

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Chinese scientists at a high-security Shenzhen laboratory earlier this year built a prototype extreme ultraviolet lithography machine. Photo: Shutterstock
Chinese scientists at a high-security Shenzhen laboratory earlier this year built a prototype extreme ultraviolet lithography machine. Photo: Shutterstock
Semiconductors

US launches review of Nvidia’s H200 chip sales to China: sources

The inter-agency licensing review involves the US departments of Commerce, State, Energy and Defence.

Artificial intelligence

China’s open-source AI models rival US giants, making engagement urgent: report

The report calls on US actors to engage with Chinese firms as the AI landscape continues to evolve.

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IPO

MetaX set for Shanghai debut amid frenzy over AI chip stocks, Nvidia uncertainty

The Shanghai-based graphics processing unit designer plans to raise US$596 million from the sale of 40.1 million shares.

MetaX Integrated Circuits’ C500 graphics processing unit is designed for AI and high-performance computing applications. Photo: Handout
MetaX Integrated Circuits’ C500 graphics processing unit is designed for AI and high-performance computing applications. Photo: Handout
Huawei

Huawei’s Kirin 9030 processor shows China’s chip progress despite US curbs

Despite ‘meaningful density improvements’ in its N+3 process, SMIC’s capabilities are still behind leading chipmakers TSMC and Samsung.

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Artificial intelligence

Chinese expert calls for world models and safety standards for embodied AI

Turing Award winner Andrew Yao says embodied AI needs reasoning, planning and control in one framework.

Artificial intelligence

Why Nvidia chip is unlikely to derail ambitions of China’s Huawei, Moore Threads

China’s huge demand for AI computing power leaves room for growth for both US and domestic chips, analysts say.

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Nvidia’s H200 artificial intelligence processors will give China a much-needed boost in computing power. Photo: Shutterstock
US-China tech war

Kimi developer Moonshot shows China’s growing AI depth: US government report

Washington’s evaluation highlights an increasing number of Chinese companies developing world-leading open-weight AI models, not just DeepSeek.

Moonshot’s flagship Kimi K2 Thinking model has stunned the global AI community with its impressive writing skills. Photo: Shutterstock
Moonshot’s flagship Kimi K2 Thinking model has stunned the global AI community with its impressive writing skills. Photo: Shutterstock
Made in China 2025

China’s Unitree teases platform allowing users to control robots via smartphones

Hangzhou robotics unicorn’s platform is designed to bring embodied intelligence into everyday life.

Artificial intelligence

Sea change: China narrows AI gap with US 3 years after ChatGPT shock

The turning point came when DeepSeek released its V3 and R1 models, which were on par with OpenAI’s GPT and Meta’s Llama models at the time.

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IPO

China’s generative AI tiger MiniMax pursues Hong Kong IPO to expand global reach

Hong Kong equity market offers platform for mainland Chinese AI firms seeking international investors amid intensifying domestic competition.

MiniMax plans to beef up its research and development. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

China’s Xreal to power Google’s Android AI glasses as smart eyewear demand grows

Project Aura, which features dual-chip design and optical see-through lenses, is a fresh example of China’s expanding R&D capabilities.

Aura projects applications directly into the user’s sightline, enabling interaction via hand gestures and granting access to Google Play apps. Photo: Handout
Aura projects applications directly into the user’s sightline, enabling interaction via hand gestures and granting access to Google Play apps. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Less hype, more hardware: SenseTime banks on multimodal AI to regain its edge

SenseTime may have slipped from the spotlight as one of China’s “AI dragons”, but its tilt at multimodal, real-world AI hints at a comeback.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Chinese supercomputer maker Sugon and chip developer Hygon call off merger plans

The aborted merger dashes industry expectations for a major domestic ecosystem covering advanced processors and high-performance servers.

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Semiconductors

China’s Moore Threads to unveil AI chip road map to rival Nvidia’s CUDA system

Founder Zhang Jianzhong is expected to launch the firm’s next-generation AI chip architecture and MUSA platform road map in Beijing.

Moore Threads Technology expects to release a new-generation graphics processing unit every year. Photo: Moore Threads
Moore Threads Technology expects to release a new-generation graphics processing unit every year. Photo: Moore Threads
Semiconductors

China’s AI developers to welcome Nvidia’s H200 chip shipments, analysts say

Nvidia faces stronger domestic competition from the likes of Huawei, Cambricon, Moore Threads and MetaX.

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China’s private sector

Tencent quits Paramount’s Warner Bros bid amid US regulatory concerns

Tencent has been dropped as a financing partner from Paramount Skydance’s US$108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese open-source models account for 30% of global AI use: report

Producing globally competitive models makes China a close peer of the US in AI development.

Open-source AI models from Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen and DeepSeek are driving the international adoption of Chinese large language models. Photo: Shutterstock
China’s private sector

ByteDance’s agentic AI smartphone dials up a digital backlash by China’s top apps

ByteDance’s new AI smartphone has run into resistance, as major Chinese platforms move to block its features citing fairness and security.

ByteDance’s agentic AI on the Nubia M153, launched by ZTE, is facing a backlash from other apps over security and fairness concerns. Photo: Handout
ByteDance’s agentic AI on the Nubia M153, launched by ZTE, is facing a backlash from other apps over security and fairness concerns. Photo: Handout
Made in China 2025

China’s Pudu Robotics rolls out overseas charm offensive with robot dog

Quadruped dubbed D5 from Pudu – founded by former HKUST engineering student Felix Zhang – draws crowds at Tokyo expo.

Artificial intelligence

Moore Threads aspires to become ‘leading global player’ in AI chips after IPO

Unlike Huawei, Moore Threads’ GPUs, along with its own MUSA platform, are compatible with Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem.

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Banking & finance

CSRC vows deeper reforms to open China’s capital market and boost tech listings

CSRC chairman Wu Qing outlines ‘deep transformation’ of capital market to attract long-term investors who ‘can stay and can develop well’.

The Chinese capital market requires a “deep transformation” to enhance its “inclusiveness and adaptability”, says Wu Qing. Photo: Reuters
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