The Latest from Rita Liao
TikTok parent ByteDance just bought a hospital group in China
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is making some pretty heavy bets on the healthcare space as it acquired Amcare, which runs high-end children’s and women’s hospitals across China. T
Bitmain co-founder welcomes crypto regulation to restore market confidence
The collapse of Three Arrow Capital and the counterparties wrapped in the crypto hedge fund’s troubles have drawn questions about the soundness of the heady digital asset investment space. For t
Toyota-backed robotaxi unicorn Pony.ai sues ex-employees over trade secrets
Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company valued at $8.5 billion as of late, has sued two former employees over alleged trade secret infringement. The lawsuit is arriving months after Frank (Zhenh
Salesforce shutters Hong Kong office, leans on Alibaba in China
Salesforce is repositioning itself in China as it looks to expand the reach of its customer relationship management software in the country. The company is “accelerating” its strategic par
Thousands of Solana wallets drained in multimillion-dollar exploit
Solana, an increasingly popular blockchain known for its speedy transactions, has become the target of the crypto sphere’s latest hack after users reported that funds have been drained from int
a16z-backed Shein challenger Cider is growing rapidly
Shein has shown the world how combining social media marketing, data analytics and China’s well-oiled supply chain has created a $100 billion fast-fashion behemoth. Its success naturally spawns
Gaming vets promise to make blockchain games fun and sustainable
The runaway success of Axie Infinity and StepN has convinced a flurry of entrepreneurs that web3 gaming, where the ownership of in-game assets is in the hands of users via blockchain adoption rather t
Jack Ma to give up control of fintech giant Ant Group: WSJ
China’s billionaire tech boss Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group, the fintech powerhouse closely affiliated with Alibaba, the e-commerce giant he founded, The Wall Street Journal reporte
China’s Jaka Robotics fueled by Saudi Arabia’s Prosperity7 in global push
Jaka Robotics, a Chinese startup that makes collaborative robots, has just pulled in a hefty Series D funding round of over $150 million from a lineup of heavyweight investors to help it expand global
Real driverless cars are now legal in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub
There are plenty of autonomous driving vehicles testing on the roads of Shenzhen today: Pony.ai, Baidu, DeepRoute, AutoX, you name it. But these vehicles are not really the unmanned vehicles that tech
BAI Capital targets China’s globalizing startups with fresh $700M fund
BAI Capital, the storied China-focused venture investment firm that was formerly known as Bertelsmann Asia Investments, has raised $700 million to back Chinese companies that are part of the country&#
Luminar to invest in Geely-affiliated Ecarx, eyes China market
Luminar, the Florida-based lidar company that went public via SPAC in 2020, has formed a close alliance with an auto behemoth in China. It’s making a strategic investment of an undisclosed amoun
China’s $1B fine on Didi could end the mobility giant’s troubled year
Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing behemoth that has undergone a year of regulatory overhaul, faces a fine of over 8 billion yuan ($1.28 billion) from the country’s authorities, The Wall Street Jour
Former Tencent insurance boss joins web3 powerhouse Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands, the Hong Kong-based gaming company and the investor behind web3 big names like The Sandbox, Sky Mavis, Dapper Labs and OpenSea, just got a talent boost. Alan Lau, former CEO and chairm
ByteDance-backed warehouse robotics startup Syrius picks up $7M
Syrius Robotics, a Chinese startup that makes autonomous robots for warehouses, just secured 50 million yuan ($7.4 million) in a Series B funding round, lifting its total raised so far to $40 million.
Mike Shinoda backs a startup that lets you do video calls as NFT avatars
As I speak to Tong Pow over Google Meet, he appears as a cartoon medieval-helmet-clad cat that talks and bobs its head, mirroring Pow’s movement behind the webcam. The visor may be hiding a Ches
Shanghai gives nod to NFT trading platforms
After flagging concerns over the financial risks associated with non-fungible tokens, some of China’s authorities are putting forward guidance on how to best make use of the novel technology. Th
A robot pony maker backed by Chinese EV giant Xpeng raises $100M
China’s Tesla challenger Xpeng isn’t content with just making electric vehicles. It’s also betting on ridable robot unicorns for kids. Xpeng Robotics, a bionic robot maker affiliated
Pix Moving brings robovans to Japan, eyes DAO-based EV making
A company from China is ready to capture Japan’s demand for autonomous service vehicles as robots play an increasingly important role to address the aging society’s labor shortage. Pix Mov
Japan’s gaming blockchain builder Oasys raises $20M in private token sale
Veterans from the established gaming world are flocking to web3. Whether they do it out of a fear of missing out or genuine belief in blockchain technologies, the trend appears irreversible at least f