Chinese Startup

• Meta is separating from the Chinese AI startup Manus, terminating all internal access and data sharing following a divestiture order from Beijing based on national security grounds. • Manus co-founders are currently seeking approximately $1 billion from external investors to buy back the startup from Meta. • This strategic move aims to establish a Chinese joint venture and pave the way for a future public listing in Hong Kong, following a trend of AI IPOs from firms like MiniMax and Zhipu.

• Data from the API routing platform OpenRouter reveals that Chinese-developed language models now account for approximately 61% of token consumption among the top 10 models. • This shift indicates that thousands of American AI startups are quietly migrating their traffic away from US-based models in favor of Chinese alternatives. • The trend is significant as it suggests Chinese LLMs are becoming more competitive in performance or cost, potentially challenging the dominance of Silicon Valley AI firms.

• Chinese robotics startup Linkerbot has completed a Series B+ funding round, achieving a $3 billion valuation, according to a Reuters report covering the company's expansion in industrial robotics. • The funding round reflects strong investor appetite for advanced robotics solutions in Asia, where manufacturing automation and industrial AI applications are driving significant venture capital deployment. • Linkerbot's valuation milestone positions the startup among China's leading robotics firms, competing in the growing market for intelligent automation systems across manufacturing, logistics, and service sectors.

Meta, which owns Facebook, acquired Manus in December 2025 for more than US$2 billion in a bid to boost its capabilities in AI agents.