DeepSeek Valued at Over 350 Billion Yuan
According to reports from the Shanghai Securities News, on the evening of July 16th, a public companyKairun Stockunexpectedly disclosed the latest market valuation of the leading domestic AI company “DeepSeek” in an investment progress announcement. Based on the announcement data, DeepSeek’s valuation after this funding round has climbed to approximately 351 billion yuan.Sources close to DeepSeek confirmed that with this round closing, the company has already started its second funding round. However, it remains uncertain whether they will go public on the STAR Market by the end of the year.
XPeng Motors: IRON Humanoid Robot to Hit Global Market by 2027
On July 16th, @XPeng Motors announced thatby 2027, XPeng will bring the IRON humanoid robot to the global market.
TSMC Q2 Net Profit Hits 706.56 Billion New Taiwan Dollars, Up 77.4% Year-on-Year
On July 16th, TSMC released its consolidated financial report for the second quarter ending June 30, 2026. Consolidated revenue reached 1.27038 trillion New Taiwan dollars, up 36% year-on-year, while net profit hit 706.56 billion New Taiwan dollars, a 77.4% increase. Gross margin stood at 67.7%, operating margin at 60.3%, and net profit margin at 55.6%.
EU Orders Google to Open Up Android AI Features and Search Data
On July 16th, the European Commission issued two binding technical specifications to Google under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These require Google to open up key Android system functions to third-party AI assistants and share anonymized search data with third-party search engines, aiming to boost competition in both the AI and search markets.
Under the new rules, Google must allow third-party AI assistants to access critical Android system functions, enabling capabilities like voice wake-up and cross-app task execution, putting them on equal footing with Gemini. Additionally, Google is required to share anonymized search data with eligible search engines and AI chatbots that have search features, while establishing a transparent data access and pricing mechanism.
According to the timeline, Google must start sharing search data by January 2027, and the Android interoperability features will be available to users starting July 2027.
Apple Eyes Chip Company Acquisition Amid Self-Developed AI Server Performance Challenges
On July 16th, reports surfaced that Apple has approached several chip startups to gauge their interest in being acquired, aiming to bolster its ability to build server chips for running artificial intelligence. The report suggests that Apple’s acquisition interest stems from performance challenges with its self-developed AI servers. Insiders revealed that Apple originally planned to launch a successor version of its AI server chip (codenamed “Baltra”) this year, but the project has been delayed.
IDC Report: Alibaba Tops China’s AI Coding Market Share
On July 16th, the international consulting firm IDC released its 2025 report on China’s AI coding market share. The report shows that Alibaba leads with a 47.6% revenue market share, surpassing the combined total of the second to fifth place competitors.
