Agentic AI startup Manus is close to completing a USD500 million funding round, with the company's valuation set to double to USD4 billion, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported. This would make the company one of the most valuable startups in China's industry.

Previously, after Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US)'s acquisition deal for Manus collapsed, the company resumed independent operations. Reports also said that TENCENT (00700.HK) is in talks to become the company's largest shareholder.
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This morning (16th), Chief Executive John Lee unveiled the Policy Address and Hong Kong's first Five-Year Plan. Paired with the upcoming Fed rate decision, market stayed on the sideline. The HSI opened up 122 pts before once turning south by nearly 100 pts, then rebounded repeatedly to close at 24,713, up 46 pts or 0.19%. Main board turnover totaled HKD181.085 billion. The HSCEI closed at 8,206, up 1 pt or 0.02%, while the HSTECH closed at 4,325, up 34 pts or 0.79%.

Major techs came under pressure. TENCENT (00700.HK) and XIAOMI-W (01810.HK) each closed down about 1.2%. BIDU-W (09888.HK), MEITUAN-W (03690.HK), BABA-W (09988.HK) and JD-SW (09618.HK) fell by less than 1%. KUAISHOU-W (01024.HK) closed down 0.5% at HKD29.66, hitting another record closing low.

This year's Policy Address contained limited new housing measures, lifting property stocks. NEW WORLD DEV (00017.HK) mounted 2.08%, SINO LAND (00083.HK) gained 1.22%, while HENDERSON LAND (00012.HK) and SHK PPT (00016.HK) each rose by less than 1%.

Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) reportedly accepted sharp memory chip price hikes from Samsung for 1Q27, driving Hong Kong-listed chip stocks higher. HUA HONG GRACE (01347.HK) surged 5.87%, SMIC (00981.HK) rallied 4.77%, BIREN TECH (06082.HK) shot up 2.56%, ILUVATAR COREX (09903.HK) climbed 6.23%, and MONTAGE TECH (06809.HK) advanced 5.46%.

Apple supply chain stocks were in a good shape, with LUXSHARE ICT (02475.HK) up 4.1%, LENS (06613.HK) up 2.4%, and BYD ELECTRONIC (00285.HK) up 3.1%.

For other blue chips, LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK) jumped up 8.33%, making it the best-performing blue chip of the day, after its CFO said net profit margin could reach Dell's level. CATL (03750.HK) sagged nearly 3% again to close at HKD501, a six-month low, barely holding above the HKD500 mark. Daiwa reportedly said CATL may cut production in September and that unit net profit in 3Q could decline QoQ. HSBC HOLDINGS (00005.HK), which dropped over 3% yesterday, rebounded 0.81% to reclaim the HKD160 level.
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South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Bae Kyung-hoon, said South Korea must continue to push forward with AI development without delay, adding that the country can no longer afford the cost of slowing AI development.

In his view, there is a fundamental difference among countries that are already in a leading position and choose to slow development, and countries that are still catching up while also trying to open up markets.

Today (16th), XL2CSOPHYNIX (07709.HK) and XL2CSOPSMSN (07747.HK) advanced 5.82% and 3.12%, respectively.
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Huawei Supervisory Board Chairman Guo Ping recently said that, regarding its large model strategy, Huawei is focused on connectivity and computing fields, while different business segments have varying demands for self-developed large models. Huawei's large model strategy is closely integrated with its own business objectives, maintaining investment while adopting differentiated deployment based on business scenarios.

Regarding the ICT business and computing field, Guo said Huawei's goal is to become NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US). The company's core advantage does not lie in possessing self-developed large models, but in supporting customers in building outstanding large models and ensuring that any large model globally can operate efficiently on Huawei Ascend, Kunpeng, supernodes and clusters.
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Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US) CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on AI safety on Tuesday (15th), with a stance closer to NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang than Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

Zuckerberg posted on X and other social media platforms that he believed AI labs not focused on "alignment" will fall behind. Alignment refers to efforts by developers to ensure technology aligns with human values.

AI safety has recently drawn heightened attention after Amodei published an article over the weekend calling on the technology industry to slow the pace of improving AI model capabilities. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later voiced support, while US President Donald Trump criticized the proposal.

Zuckerberg said that there is currently a lot of debate about slowing capability progress until alignment catches up. He believed trust and alignment are rapidly becoming the most important capabilities distinguishing agents and models.

Zuckerberg said AI labs face significant liability if their models cause harm, giving companies incentives to prevent potential issues, reflecting a more market-oriented view that was consistent with comments made publicly by Jensen Huang on the same day.

Zuckerberg added that Meta had previously delayed the launch of its Muse AI technology for safety and security reasons.
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang expressed differing views on AI safety issues at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference, with the debate becoming a market focus in recent days.

Amodei first appeared on stage with Salesforce, Inc. (CRM.US) CEO Marc Benioff. Earlier, Amodei published an article over the weekend calling on the industry to slow the pace of model development.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX.US) CEO Elon Musk and Google DeepMind Chairman Demis Hassabis later voiced support for Amodei's proposal.

Jensen Huang, who later shared the stage with Benioff, took a different view. He said market forces already exist and the industry does not need additional laws or regulatory measures. He added that speed and safety are not mutually exclusive, but companies should control the pace before ensuring products launched to the market are acceptable and safe.

Huang commented that this is a false binary choice, and people can absolutely achieve both at the same time, noting that model developers have a responsibility to handle products responsibly.

Huang suggested to move as fast as possible, but if at any time the company is perceived to be out of control, or the product cannot ensure safety, then it should be paused and things should be done correctly.
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An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday (15th) that the company has been engaging with other AI companies, including Anthropic and Google, on how to cooperate in addressing safety issues.

The spokesperson said the discussions have continued since Google DeepMind Chairman Demis Hassabis proposed in July the establishment of a US-led "standards body".

Hassabis wrote on X at the time that he proposed creating a public-private partnership or self-regulatory organization overseen by the federal government, similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Although OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are fierce competitors, all three companies have recently faced mounting pressure to address increasing AI safety and security concerns.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies last Saturday (12th) to slow the pace of advancing the industry's most cutting-edge models, drawing praise from Hassabis and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
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After executives from Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies warned over the weekend about the risks of advanced AI and called for slower model development, US President Donald Trump posted on social media on Monday (15th), weakening such efforts.

Trump said that the only control or guardrails AI needs is a strong and smart (high IQ) president, and the US has such a person.

Trump's public opposition to new AI regulation presents another challenge for Anthropic and OpenAI. The two companies must grow rapidly to support valuations approaching USD1 trillion while also responding to concerns that technological development is advancing too quickly and could spiral out of control.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an article over the weekend calling on AI companies to slow development. Earlier, safety researchers Jacob Coxon and Joe Benton resigned from positions at its laboratory, saying there was widespread concern within the industry that AI systems could potentially lead to human extinction.
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Senior US government officials met with Anthropic executives on Tuesday (15th) to discuss AI safety risks, Bloomberg, citing sources, reported.

Anthropic Chief of Compute Tom Brown reportedly held a video conference with Department of Defense Technical Director Emil Michael and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Anthropic declined to comment, while the Department of Defense said in a statement that it would continue to maintain contact with frontier AI companies.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang is expected to attend the state banquet, CNBC reported, citing sources.

AI is anticipated to become a key topic in talks between Xi and Trump. White House officials disclosed that Trump invited several prominent US business leaders to attend the dinner with Xi because he has consistently prioritized securing favorable deals for the US.
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