RecodeX

📡 On-the-hour Updates | 16:00-17:00

1. Anthropic’s AI model Claude successfully designed novel protein binders for 14 out of 15 target sites, and Adaptyv Bio and Twist Bioscience independently verified the results.

2. Semiconductor company Singular Photonics, headquartered in Edinburgh, raised $2.15 million in an oversubscribed financing round to accelerate the development of next-generation SPAD image sensors.

3. Yangtze Memory has completed its listing counseling, taking another step closer to landing on China’s A-share market. In the second quarter of this year, its flash shipments first surpassed Kioxia, making it the world’s third-largest NAND flash supplier.

4. Shanghai has issued the “Digital Shanghai” plan for the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, proposing deeper integration of cross-recognition of digital identities and electronic signatures between Shanghai and Hong Kong, optimizing mechanisms for cross-border data flows, and upgrading Shanghai’s National Blockchain Network hub.

5. South Africa’s CPI in July rose 4.3% year over year, below the market’s expected 4.5%.

6. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has released its 2026 first-half results. Net profit first exceeded HK$10 billion, setting a historical high.

7. SpaceX today completed its 100th rocket launch of the year, with the annual launch cadence reaching a new record.

8. The United States federal debt is expected to surpass $40 trillion this week, earlier than estimates previously released by the Congressional Budget Office.

📡 8-Hour Review | Aug 19, 08:00-16:00

RecodeX restructures the message. Today, the market saw intense volatility: stock markets in Japan and South Korea slumped sharply, and China’s A-shares also pulled back. After Unitree Robotics’ tech-innovation board listing surged on its first day and then fell back, the humanoid robot sector became shaky and choppy. At the same time, major developments emerged in AI and cybersecurity, including Cerebras’ new system release, OpenAI pausing reinforcement learning training for the next generation flagship model, and the first suspected incident of an AI-driven autonomous attack.

🤖 AI & Technology

1. Cerebras Systems released its new CS-4 rack system. Performance per chip is improved by 100%, and the number of chips per single rack can now be scaled up to three times, aiming to surpass Nvidia in AI computing speed.

2. OpenAI paused reinforcement learning training for its next-generation flagship model for two weeks due to a safety incident and internal assessments concluding that Astra may reach a “key-level” network security capability.

3. In the first case of a suspected “near-autonomous” attack by a state actor, a Chinese operator used a complex AI framework to target and infiltrate government institutions; the target may be located in Taiwan.

4. LG Display announced it successfully developed a patterned OLED method called FLiPP. It eliminates the need for traditional fine metal mask processes, which could simplify production and lower costs.

📈 Markets & Capital

1. South Korea’s KOSPI opened down 5% today, at 6,528.77 points. Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened 0.96% lower, and major Asia-Pacific stock markets faced early pressure.

2. On Aug 19, China’s A-shares saw a sharp adjustment: the Shanghai Composite fell 1.96%, the Shenzhen Component dropped 3.97%, the ChiNext index fell 4.98%, and nearly 5,000 individual stocks declined.

3. The Nikkei 225 closed down 3.16% at 65,326.42 points. South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 5.8% at 6,471.17 points. SK Hynix fell more than 10%, and Samsung Electronics fell more than 8%.

4. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s revenue and other gains in the first half of 2026 were HKD 16.702 billion, up 19% year over year. Profit attributable to shareholders was HKD 10.568 billion, up 24% year over year, setting a new record high for the first half.

🚀 Aerospace & Technology Breakthroughs

1. The ZQ-3 (Jueque-3) remote-sensing rocket successfully entered orbit and achieved a land recovery, becoming China’s first launch vehicle to both reach orbit and complete a land recovery.

2. Blue Arrow Aerospace announced that the ZQ-3 rocket successfully completed China’s first land recovery. This marks a major breakthrough in China’s commercial spaceflight in reusable rocket technology.

3. The Chang’e 7 mission has entered the launch countdown. The spacecraft-rocket assembly has completed vertical transfer. The plan is to launch soon when conditions are suitable, carrying out investigations of the Moon’s south-polar environment and resources.

🪙 Cryptocurrencies & Regulation

1. The White House will hold a crypto meeting tomorrow. Attendees will include Trump and the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, among others. BlackRock reiterated its long-term bullish view on Bitcoin; yesterday’s spot Bitcoin ETF saw net inflows of USD 298 million.

2. VanEck’s research team said that among the 12 Bitcoin capitulation indicators they track, 8 have already turned “on.” Bitcoin is about 48% below its all-time high, and the market may enter an accumulation phase from September to November.

3. The U.S. SEC proposed establishing a new regulatory framework for crypto securities, including two issuance exemptions, disclosure obligations, conditional safe harbors, and federal priority applicability clauses. Issuances below USD 75 million would be exempt.

4. CryptoQuant data shows that centralized exchanges’ stablecoin reserves have fallen to about USD 64 billion, down about USD 16 billion from the peak. Binance accounts for 68.5% of exchange stablecoin liquidity.

🏛️ Policy & Law

1. 29 U.S. states jointly sued Meta’s social media platforms, alleging they are designed to be addictive products targeting teenagers. The case opened in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, with damages of USD 200 billion claimed.

2. Florida in the U.S. filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging their generative AI products constitute a public nuisance. It seeks injunctive relief and economic damages.

3. Housing provident fund management regulations have undergone major revisions. The threshold for withdrawing funds for renting a home will be removed, and workers with flexible employment can voluntarily contribute.

4. Singapore’s Monetary Authority announced tax exemptions on investment profit for qualified fund investors, aiming to enhance competition in the asset management industry. Details will be released in the 2027 fiscal budget.

🌍 International Developments

1. On the 16th, Trump posted on social media saying that, due to “very good relations” with Kim Jong-un, he was dissatisfied with the U.S.–South Korea joint military drills. He asked the U.S. Department of Defense to significantly reduce the scale of the drills.

2. The U.S.–South Korea joint military drills ended a week early due to Trump’s instruction to scale them down. The U.S. Department of Defense said that the adjustments do not affect training objectives.

3. Venezuela signed an oil contract with the U.S.’s Schlumberger and Hunt Oil, aiming to attract investment to increase crude oil production.

4. The earthquake on Indonesia’s Flores Island has killed 70 people, injured nearly 1,200, and forced more than 40,000 people to seek shelter.

Editor’s Note: Today’s market volatility is intertwined with policy developments. Issues related to AI safety and regulation are heating up, but the long-term impact still needs to be observed.

📡 Hourly News Report | 15:00-16:00

1. Today, UTree Technology was listed on the STAR Market, with a market value of RMB 400 billion. After jumping 629.44% on its first day, the stock plunged; the largest intraday drawdown reached 19.82%. It became the first listed company in China’s humanoid robotics sector.

2. Stocks in Japan and South Korea fell across the board. South Korea’s composite index dropped 5.80%, the Nikkei 225 closed down 3.12%, and the won weakened past the 1,400 per US dollar level.

3. A lawsuit against Meta filed by multiple US states went to trial, seeking damages of USD 200 billion. The case focuses on teenagers’ mental health issues, and Meta’s share price fell by about 4.5%.

4. The US state of Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that its generative AI products constitute a public nuisance. It seeks injunctive relief and economic compensation.

5. The US SEC released a proposal on crypto-asset regulation. It provides two financing routes for token issuance: USD 5 million and USD 75 million, with a 60-day consultation period.

6. The Zhuque-3 (Rocket No. 2) Long March carrier rocket was launched successfully from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone. It became China’s first launch vehicle to successfully reach orbit and achieve land recovery.

7. Over the past two weeks, Douyin has dealt with 209,000 pieces of pornographic and vulgar content that violated regulations. It took tiered actions against 78,000 accounts, including 2,384 accounts with over 10,000 followers that were handled.

8. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, warned that Europe must not fall behind in the AI revolution. Businesses in the euro area are expected to allocate about 9% of investment to AI this year.

📡 Hourly News | 14:00-15:00

1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a new regulatory framework for crypto securities, including two offering exemptions, disclosure obligations, conditional safe harbors, and a federal preemption clause. Offerings under $75 million may qualify for an exemption.

2. CryptoQuant data shows that centralized exchanges’ stablecoin reserves have fallen to about $64 billion, down by roughly $16 billion from their peak. Binance accounts for 68.5% of the stablecoin liquidity across exchanges.

3. The Nikkei 225 index closed down 3.16% at 65,326.42 points. South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 5.8% at 6,471.17 points. SK hynix fell by more than 10%, and Samsung Electronics fell by more than 8%.

4. SK hynix announced that from 2025 to 2027, it will use at least 50% of free cash flow for shareholder returns, and will repurchase 400 trillion won (about $28.6 billion) in treasury shares for cancellation. After the news was released, the stock’s after-hours decline narrowed.

5. Cathie Wood said she is avoiding investments in AI chip stocks that depend on memory, and instead favors AI chip companies like Cerebras Systems and Groq that do not require high-bandwidth memory. She said that rising prices due to memory shortages are a warning signal, not an investment rationale.

6. Twenty-nine U.S. states have jointly sued Meta’s social media platforms, alleging that they designed addictive products targeting teens. The case is being heard in federal court in Oakland, California.

7. The Zhuque-3 carrier rocket has completed China’s first-ever successful land recovery test, validating key technologies for vertical takeoff, landing, and recovery.

8. China’s reusable rocket achieved two successful land recoveries within 40 days, laying the groundwork for commercial operations.

📡 Hourly News Brief | 12:00-13:00

1. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing reported first-half 2026 revenue and other income of HK$16.702 billion, up 19% year over year. Shareholders’ profit attributable was HK$10.568 billion, up 24% year over year, setting a record for the first half.

2. CryptoQuant data shows that Bitcoin spot demand is set to turn positive for the first time since February. Historically, after such signals appear, average returns over the following 60 days can reach 18.1%.

3. U.S. Tree Technology’s listing on the STAR Market saw a skyrocket of 629% at the opening on its first day, valuing the company at RMB 444.9 billion. Investors include Meituan, Tencent, and Alibaba.

4. The U.S. and South Korea agreed to move their joint military drills ahead to end on August 21 in response to the situation on the Korean Peninsula; Trump ordered the Pentagon to significantly reduce the scale of the exercises.

5. The Chang’e-7 mission has entered the launch countdown. The rocket-launch vehicle assembly has completed vertical transfer and is planned to launch at an opportune time soon. It will carry out surveys of the Moon’s south polar environment and resources.

6. Severe rainfall hit multiple areas in Sichuan. Within 24 hours, 21,784 people were evacuated and relocated in advance for safety. Since the start of the flood season, a total of 1,102,694 person-times have been transferred.

7. The chair of the U.S. SEC is pushing a new rule exempting crypto assets, setting up a funding pathway of up to $75 million. The move aims to attract issuers to return to the U.S. market.

8. The U.S. stock AI sector was sold off heavily. The Nasdaq fell 1.3%, the Philadelphia semiconductor index plunged 5.6%, memory stocks led the decline, and Nvidia dropped by about 2.3%.

📡 Hourly News | 11:00-12:00

1. The Jueque-3 No. 2 rocket successfully reached orbit and achieved land recovery, becoming China’s first launch vehicle to both successfully reach orbit and recover on land.

2. On August 19, China’s A-share market saw a major pullback. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.96%, the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 3.97%, and the ChiNext Index slid 4.98%. Nearly 5,000 stocks declined.

3. OpenAI has paused the next-generation flagship model’s reinforcement learning training for two weeks, citing a safety incident and internal assessment that found Astra may have reached key-level cybersecurity capabilities.

4. Trump announced a pause in imposing a 50% tariff on Canada, saying a trade agreement is close to being reached. Previously, he announced a three-day extension 90 minutes before it was to take effect.

5. Over the past 60 days, major Bitcoin holders increased their positions by about 43,000 BTC, worth approximately $2.75 billion. They bought again when the price rebounded to around $60,000.

6. TrendForce data shows that in Q2, the top five global NAND Flash brands’ combined revenue rose 77% quarter-over-quarter to $68.87 billion. In the U.S., memory prices surged an average of 500% over the past 12 months.

7. Seoul plans to increase the number of automated self-driving taxi vehicles operating at night in Gangnam District from 7 to 19. The service has completed a cumulative 15,140 trips.

8. The Maya Protocol was attacked, resulting in an estimated loss of about $1.7 million, mainly involving 20 bitcoins.

📡 Hourly Update | 10:00-11:00

1. Yushu Technology listed on the STAR Market today. The opening price was 1,100 yuan, up 629% from the issue price. Its market value surpassed 350 billion yuan, according to disclosed investment documents from Sequoia Capital.

2. The U.S.–South Korea joint military exercises were scaled down at the direction of Trump and ended one week early. The U.S. Department of Defense said the adjustments would not affect the training objectives.

3. Venezuela and U.S. companies Schlumberger and Hunt Petroleum signed oil contracts to attract investment and increase crude oil production.

4. The earthquake on Indonesia’s Flores Island has left 70 people dead, nearly 1,200 injured, and more than 40,000 seeking shelter.

5. Google Cloud’s second-quarter revenue grew 82% year over year to 24.8 billion USD, with growth accelerating.

6. Research by the Bank of Italy shows that stablecoin remittance costs can be as high as 9%, offering no advantage over traditional banks.

7. GCL Integration’s overseas orders for BC modules have moved into mass production and shipment. Contracted scale in the German market has exceeded 100 megawatts.

8. Corechip Co., Ltd. secured new orders worth 15.142 billion yuan, with AI computing-related orders accounting for 90%.

📡 Hourly News Report | 09:00-10:00

1. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: In the first case of suspected “near-autonomous” attacks involving a target state actor, a Chinese operator is said to have used a complex AI framework to target and breach government institutions, with the target possibly located in Taiwan. The incident highlights a new application of AI in cyberattacks and has raised concerns about the risks of autonomous cyberwarfare.

2. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: LG Display today announced that it has successfully developed a patterning method called FLiPP for OLEDs. The method does not require traditional fine metal mask (FMM) processes, instead using proprietary technology. The company calls it a “dream-level” OLED patterning solution, which is expected to simplify production steps and reduce costs.

3. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: At a court hearing in the United States, Meta was accused of designing its platforms in a way that keeps children addicted to Facebook and Instagram. The plaintiffs claim that Meta uses algorithms and notification mechanisms to intentionally attract and retain underage users, leading to addiction. The hearing has not released a final ruling, but the case could have a major impact on Meta’s teen protection policies.

4. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: Brazilian meat giant JBS has put forward a new offer to acquire the remaining shares of Pilgrim’s Pride and move the company toward delisting. The move aims to achieve full control over the U.S. chicken producer. Transaction details and bid terms have not been disclosed yet.

5. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: China has achieved its first-ever land recovery of a rocket, delivering a major technological breakthrough. The State Council issued a notice that there is no longer any threshold limiting the rent paid with extracted housing provident fund, based on a specified proportion of family wage income. In terms of individual stocks: Yushu Technology was listed today at an issue price of 150.80 yuan per share; Jiangbo Dragon plans to repurchase 400 million to 800 million yuan worth of shares; Zhaojin Technology’s net profit in the first half was 6.857 billion yuan, up 1,091.5% year over year; Purun shares’ net profit was 827 million yuan, up 1,929.65% year over year; China.

6. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: Li Shufu, founder of Geely Holding Group, has officially stepped down as chairman. Corporate governance will shift to a professional manager model. This handover marks Geely’s entry into a new management phase. The specific successor and subsequent strategic arrangements have not yet been disclosed.

7. RecodeX Reconstructs the News: Blue Arrow Aerospace announced today that its Nebula-3 rocket has successfully completed China’s first land recovery. This marks a major breakthrough for China’s commercial space industry in recoverable rocket technology. The recovery is seen as Blue Arrow’s “second big test” following its first launch, validating the reliability and precision of its recovery system. The achievement is expected to reduce launch costs and help advance the commercialization of China’s space industry.

📡 On-the-Hour News | 08:00-09:00

1. The Korean KOSPI index opened down 5% today, at 6,528.77 points. Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened lower by 0.96%, and major Asia-Pacific stock markets were under pressure in the morning.

2. Korea’s Kospi benchmark index fell as much as 6.3%. Semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix declined by at least 7%.

3. Cerebras Systems released its new-generation CS-4 rack system. Single-chip performance is up by a factor of two, and the number of chips a single rack can hold has increased by threefold. The aim is to surpass NVIDIA in AI computing speed.

4. The White House will hold a cryptocurrency meeting tomorrow, with attendees including Trump and the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BlackRock reiterated its long-term bullish view on Bitcoin. Yesterday, spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $298 million.

5. VanEck’s research team said that of the 12 Bitcoin market capitulation indicators it tracks, 8 have already turned “on.” Bitcoin is about 48% below its all-time high, and the market may enter an accumulation phase from September to November.

6. U.S. stock storage-chip stocks fell sharply today. SanDisk’s share price plunged by more than 9%, leading the sector.

7. On the 16th, Trump posted on social media saying he was dissatisfied with the U.S.-South Korea joint military drills because he has “a very good relationship” with Kim Jong-un. He has asked the U.S. Department of Defense to significantly reduce the scale of the joint drills.

8. Major revisions have been made to housing provident fund regulations. The threshold limits for withdrawing funds for renting a home will be removed, and flexible employment workers may voluntarily contribute.

📡 8-hour recap | Aug 19, 00:00-08:00

RecodeX reworks the message. Over the past 8 hours, the tech and financial markets have been highly volatile: Apple adjusted the EU App Store fee structure, the U.S. SEC issued new crypto regulations, AI companies saw a flurry of funding and IPO news, and U.S. stocks fell as Treasury yields surged.

🤖 AI and Technology

1. After a safety breach incident, OpenAI paused reinforcement learning training for two weeks and slowed AI development to reform the research training system.

2. AI chip startup Etched completed a $700 million Series D round at a $21 billion valuation, led by Jane Street.

3. Anthropic is seeking a credit facility of more than $10 billion as it prepares for a public listing. Its revenue exceeds $11.5 billion and it achieved a small operating profit for the first time.

4. The Mojo programming language has officially been open-sourced, aiming to combine Python’s ease of use with C++ performance for AI development.

5. Google has rolled out Gemini features in Chrome to all Android users in the U.S., along with the launch of an automatic browsing feature.

📱 Tech Companies and Products

1. Apple announced that starting October 1, it will adjust EU App Store terms: it will remove the core technology fee and instead charge a 5% commission on digital transactions outside the App Store, while the in-app purchase commission will be reduced to 26%.

2. The camera-equipped version of AirPods that Apple is developing may be folded into the AirPods Pro product line, codenamed B790, with a release expected this year.

3. Apple plans to launch a foldable-screen iPhone Ultra as early as this September, with an expected price between $2,300 and $2,500.

4. Multiple iCloud services from Apple have experienced outages, including Find My, Photos, and Mail. The issue began at 3:33 p.m. Eastern Time.

5. Xiaomi Group released its 2026 Q2 financial results, with adjusted net profit down 42.6% year over year.

💰 Finance and Markets

1. U.S. Treasury bills surpassed $39 trillion. The 30-year Treasury yield briefly exceeded 5.3%, reaching the highest level since 2007.

2. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday: the S&P 500 dropped 0.69%, the Nasdaq fell 1.33%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 4.98%.

3. A report from Bank of America said that given AI-related risks, Nvidia’s stock price could face a discount of up to 50%.

4. Nike’s stock price fell to a 12-year low, and JPMorgan downgraded the rating to “underweight.”

5. ZTO Express released its 2026 Q2 financial results. Adjusted net profit rose 50.3% year over year to RMB 3.1 billion, and revenue was RMB 14.55 billion, up 23% year over year—both beating market expectations.

🔗 Crypto Currencies and Regulation

1. The U.S. SEC issued new rules for cryptocurrencies, stating that Bitcoin is a pure commodity, stablecoins do not fall under securities, and defining the conditions under which tokens may be considered not to be securities.

2. The White House confirmed that a crypto meeting will be held on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., with President Trump, the SEC and CFTC chairpersons, and others in attendance.

3. Over the past 60 days, large holders have cumulatively bought about 43,000 bitcoins, worth roughly $2.7 billion.

4. A Bitcoin wallet created in 2012 transferred 212 BTC after 14 years of inactivity, valued at about $13.72 million.

5. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has put forward a new proposal allowing companies to account for held stablecoins as cash equivalents.

⚖️ Law and Policy

1. Multiple U.S. states sue Meta, accusing it of intentionally making children addicted to its platform. They are seeking $200 billion in fines, and Zuckerberg will appear in court.

2. The U.S. Department of Justice plans to deploy 1,000 election monitors in the midterm elections, the largest scale in history.

3. The governor of Pennsylvania signed an executive order establishing the strictest nationwide regulatory measures for data centers.

4. The U.S.’s 50% tariff on Canadian goods will take effect at midnight, escalating trade tensions.

🚀 Industry Developments

1. In the first half of 2026, real-world AI companies completed 521 financing transactions totaling $47.4 billion, up 80% compared with the same period in 2025.

2. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta’s in-house AI chip shipments are expected to grow 44.6% this year, with the growth rate approaching nearly three times that of Nvidia GPUs.

3. Yushu Technology will list on the Shanghai STAR Market on Wednesday. The IPO will raise RMB 6.1 billion, making it the first listed humanoid robot manufacturer on the mainland.

4. Baidu’s AI chip Kunlunxin has successfully commercialized three generations of products. Demand is strong, and the independent spin-off and listing process is underway.

5. Zhuque-3 Long March II (ZY-3) recovery rocket successfully entered orbit and achieved a land-based recovery, becoming the first Chinese launch vehicle to both reach orbit successfully and achieve land-based recovery.

Editor’s note: Regulatory frameworks in AI and crypto are taking shape rapidly, but concerns in the market about overvaluations and debt risks are also heating up at the same time.

📡 Hourly Update | 07:00-08:00

1. Umber Tree Technology will be listed on the Shanghai STAR Market on Wednesday. The company’s IPO will raise RMB 6.1 billion, making it the first publicly listed humanoid robot manufacturer on the Chinese mainland.

2. Apple plans to release its foldable-screen iPhone Ultra as early as this September. The expected price is between USD 2,300 and USD 2,500.

3. OpenAI’s revenue in the second quarter reached USD 6.7 billion, up 18% quarter over quarter, but losses widened. Anthropic’s revenue exceeded USD 11.5 billion and it achieved a small operating profit for the first time.

4. US Treasury yields rose to the highest level in 19 years, reflecting market concerns about increasing government debt financing costs.

5. On August 19, the three major US stock indexes all fell. The Nasdaq dropped 1.33%, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 4.98%, and storage-chip stocks led the declines: Micron fell 7.02% and SanDisk fell 9.01%.

6. Zhuque-3 (Mission Two) carrier rocket successfully entered orbit and achieved land recovery, becoming China’s first carrier rocket to both reach orbit successfully and recover on land.

7. Guangdong Province added 25 generative AI service filings, bringing the cumulative number of registered services to 193.

8. The WHO warns that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still a global public health emergency. Confirmed cases have exceeded 5,000.

📡 Hourly News Bulletin | 06:00-07:00

1. OpenAI’s Q2 revenue was $6.7 billion, up 18% month-over-month, but profit margins declined. Anthropic’s revenue was $11.6 billion, more than doubled year-over-year; both companies are preparing to launch IPOs within the next few weeks.

2. The probability that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in September is 65%, while the probability of cumulative rate hikes of 25 basis points is 35%.

3. Both Brent crude oil and U.S. WTI crude oil futures closed at their highest levels since July 24, as market hopes for an improved U.S.-Iran peace agreement weakened and concerns about supply tightened.

4. The Trump administration halted negotiations with Iran, and oil prices jumped. Iran said that, with talks stalled, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.

5. ZTO Express released its 2026 Q2 financial results: parcel volume reached 10.5 billion, market share was 19.9%. Adjusted net profit rose 50.3% year-over-year to 3.1 billion yuan, revenue was 14.55 billion yuan, up 23% year-over-year—both exceeding market expectations.

6. Baidu’s AI chip, Kunlun Xin, has successfully commercialized its third-generation product. Demand is strong; it already supports major models such as Kimi K3 and GLM-5.2. The process for an independent spin-off and listing is underway.

7. According to JLL data, in the first half of 2026, North American data center capacity absorption reached 25 GW—an all-time record, double that of the same period last year. Of the 66 GW under construction, 95% has already been pre-committed.

8. Apple updated its EU alternative app store fee policy, removing the initial access fee and the store services fee.

📡 Top-of-hour update | 05:00-06:00

1. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are expected to see a 44.6% year-over-year increase in shipments of their self-developed AI chips, with growth rates approaching nearly three times that of Nvidia GPUs.

2. Over the past 60 days, large holders have cumulatively bought about 43,000 BTC worth approximately $2.7 billion.

3. Apple has fully revised its App Store fee rules in the European Union, loosening the entry barriers for third-party app stores in response to the EU Digital Markets Act.

4. The Mojo programming language has officially been open-sourced. It is designed to combine Python’s ease of use with C++ performance, targeting AI development.

5. Tech stocks including Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Meta fell together on Tuesday, driven by a surge in U.S. Treasury yields. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower across the board.

6. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules for cryptocurrencies, aiming to provide a safe harbor for determining whether tokens constitute investment contracts, along with certain exemptions for token issuers.

7. The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed a new plan that would allow companies to account for stablecoins they hold as cash equivalents. The proposal is currently in the comment period.

8. A report from Bank of America said that, considering AI-related risks, Nvidia’s stock price could face a discount of up to 50%.

📡 On-the-hour News Brief | 04:00-05:00

1. US stocks fell on Wednesday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.69%, the Nasdaq fell 1.33%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 4.98%.

2. An AI incident database shows that between 2022 and 2024, AI-related incidents increased year over year by 50%. By October 2025, the number of incidents has already surpassed the total for all of 2024.

3. The US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new rule, “Regulation of Crypto Assets,” providing a unified regulatory framework for crypto assets, covering registration, disclosure, and market conduct requirements.

4. Four states—California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey—filed a lawsuit against Meta in California courts, accusing it of deliberately encouraging teenagers to become addicted to its social platform. The four states are part of a 29-state coalition that has filed suit against Meta.

5. Multiple Apple iCloud services experienced outages, including Find My, Photos, Mail, and more. The issue began at 3:33 PM Eastern Time.

6. US 30-year Treasury yields briefly broke above 5.3%, reaching the highest level since 2007, and were reported at 5.284%.

7. OpenAI said that after testing showed an AI agent successfully infiltrated another AI company, it slowed AI development and reformed its research and training systems.

8. Xiaomi Group released its 2026 Q2 earnings report. Adjusted net profit fell 42.6% year over year.

📡 Hourly News Update | 03:00-04:00

1. OpenAI launches a new initiative aimed at strengthening democratic oversight of AI applications in the national security sector, providing government agencies with tools and training.

2. The U.S. SEC issues new rules for cryptocurrencies, clarifying that Bitcoin is a pure commodity, that stablecoins are not securities, and defining the conditions under which tokens will no longer be considered securities.

3. In the first half of 2026, real-world AI companies completed 521 financing deals in total, with an aggregate value of $47.4 billion, up 80% year-on-year compared with the same period in 2025.

4. Micron Technology and Western Digital’s stock prices surged sharply as demand for storage chips rebounded and expectations for AI-driven high-bandwidth memory growth increased.

5. The governor of Pennsylvania signed an executive order establishing some of the strictest regulatory measures in the U.S. for data centers.

6. Google has fully rolled out the Gemini feature in Chrome to all U.S. Android users, and also launched an automatic browsing feature.

7. The U.S. has lowered expectations for the U.S.-Canada trade agreement to be reached on Tuesday; Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland are expected to speak and negotiate again.

8. The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Defense said two ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the country and landed in the sea; this marks Iran’s first known attack on the country since May.

📡 Hourly Update | 02:00-03:00

1. After a security leak incident involving OpenAI on Hugging Face, OpenAI announced a two-week pause of intensified reinforcement learning training, and suspended advanced model inference tasks in its research cluster that might execute code.

2. Meta was accused by 29 U.S. states in a federal trial in Oakland of intentionally letting children become addicted to Facebook and Instagram. The states are seeking billions of dollars in penalties and are demanding changes to the business model.

3. The camera-enabled version of AirPods that Apple is developing may be folded into the AirPods Pro product line, codenamed B790, with an expected release this year.

4. Berkshire Hathaway has built a new Alphabet position from scratch in less than a year, with a stake value of nearly $38 billion; Buffett may be leading the investment.

5. After Aave suffered a loss of $290 million in an attack on the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge, its TVL fell to an all-time low, down 43% from its peak.

6. A coalition of 29 state attorneys general sued Meta over allegations that its platforms cause user addiction. If they lose, there could still be penalties of up to more than $200 billion.

7. JPMorgan Chase warned that the concentration risk in AI holdings is spreading to the bond market; in July, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 21%.

8. A Bitcoin wallet created in 2012 transferred 212 BTC after 14 years of inactivity, worth approximately $13.72 million.

📡 Hourly News Update | 01:00-02:00

1. U.S. Treasury bills have surpassed $39 trillion. The Business Roundtable warns that if deficits continue, borrowing costs may rise, and the 30-year Treasury yield hit a 19-year high.

2. Bitcoin’s price has broken above $64,000, but selling pressure is building among miners and ETF holders. Analysts are concerned about a bull-market trap; VanEck says it may be nearing the end of a correction.

3. Multiple U.S. states have sued Meta, accusing it of intentionally making children addicted to its platform. They are seeking a $200 billion fine, and Zuckerberg will appear in court.

4. Apple announced reforms to its European App Store fee structure. It will eliminate per-install fees, with the new rates set at 26%, 20%, and 15%, to address disagreements with the EU.

5. Anthropic has opened its Claude Cowork feature to all paying plan users and is seeking a credit facility of more than $10 billion as it prepares for a potential public listing.

6. AI chip startup Etched has completed a $700 million Series D round, valuing the company at $21 billion, with Jane Street leading the investment.

7. The U.S. Department of Justice plans to deploy 1,000 election monitors during the midterm elections, for what will be the largest operation in history.

8. Nike’s stock price has fallen to a 12-year low. JPMorgan has downgraded its rating to “Underweight.”

📡 On-the-Hour Update | 00:00-01:00

1. Apple announced that starting October 1 it will adjust EU App Store terms: it will remove the core technology fee and instead charge a 5% commission on digital transactions outside the App Store, while the in-app purchase commission will be reduced to 26%.

2. The U.S. will impose a 50% tariff on Canadian goods effective at midnight, escalating trade tensions.

3. European stocks fell for the fifth consecutive day. The STOXX 600 closed down 0.7%, the first decline since November 2025, as technology shares led the drop while energy stocks rose.

4. Bitcoin opened on August 18 at $64,487.65, up 2.7% from Monday, but later slid to $64,080.23; it is down 4.4% since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.

5. AI chip startup Etched’s latest funding round values it at $21 billion.

6. Anthropic’s revolving credit facility will exceed $10 billion. Several banks are competing to participate in its IPO, with completion expected as early as fall.

7. The White House confirmed that a cryptocurrency meeting will be held on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., attended by Donald Trump, the SEC, the CFTC chair, and others.

8. U.S. diesel refining margins first broke above $100 per barrel, reaching above $102. Inventories fell to the lowest level in late August since 1996.

📡 Entrepreneurship & Investment Brief | August 18

RecodeX reshapes the news. Today’s funding market is active, with large deals across AI, healthcare, enterprise services, and M&A. In the primary market, AI video generation platform Higgsfield completed a $400M Series B round, reaching a valuation of $5.4B; speech AI company Wispr Flow completed a $280M Series B round, with a valuation of $2.0B. The M&A market is also hot: Francisco Partners plans to take Weave Communications private for $650M; Goldman Sachs acquired real estate company LCN; and Alibaba sold its game company Lingxi Interactive.

🚀 Primary-market fundraising

1. Higgsfield completes a $400M Series B round, valued at $5.4B. DST Global leads, with participation from Tribe Capital, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and others. The funds will be used to expand enterprise products, safety, and market growth.

2. Wispr Flow completes a $280M Series B round, valued at $2.0B. Menlo Ventures leads. The funds will be used to expand speech AI research and promote the Canto model.

3. Groq completes $350M in financing, valued at $3.5B. Disruptive leads, with NVIDIA participating. The funds will be used to expand AI inference cloud services.

4. Gravis Robotics completes a $200M Series A round, with investment from SoftBank. The funds will be used to scale R&D and deployment of autonomous heavy-duty equipment.

5. Etched completes $700M in financing, valued at $21B. Jane Street leads. The funds will be used for AI chip R&D and commercialization.

6. Resolve AI completes an extended $40M Series A round, valued at $1.5B. DST Global and Salesforce Ventures lead. The funds will be used to advance an AI production-operations platform.

7. Trajectory completes a $40M Series A round, led by Sequoia Capital. The funds will be used to expand AI infrastructure and improve the platform for agents.

8. Smack Technologies completes a $61M Series B round, led by Costanoa Ventures and First In. The funds will be used to develop the Alpha decision platform.

9. Velaura AI completes a $110M Series A round, with a valuation exceeding $1B. Seligman Ventures leads. The funds will be used to commercialize AI chips.

10. Palona AI completes a $20M Series A round, with total funding reaching $20M. Investors include Ardenwood Ventures, etc. The funds will be used to deploy an enterprise AI operations layer.

11. Terra Industries completes a $52M seed round, with participation from 8VC, Silent Ventures, and others. The funds will be used for manufacturing expansion in Africa and drone production.

12. Sisheng Technology completes seed+ funding in the tens of millions of RMB (amount in the thousands of RMB tens of millions), led by Guoqi Investment. The funds will be used for R&D of ultrasonic brain-computer interface technology.

13. Digital Huaxia completes a strategic Pre-A round at the 100M RMB level, with addition by Tongchuang Weiye JIAZHUI (and others). The funds will be used for the commercialization of bionic humanoid robots.

14. ShuoCheng Technology completes a D+ round worth over 100M RMB, with an industrial machine-tool investment fund as the sole investor. The funds will be used for the research and development of Jiuzhou industrial large models.

15. CASD Yushuo completes a C+ round. Post-money valuation is nearly RMB 7B. Investors include Yangtze Capital, Tai Ping Kechuang, etc. The funds will be used for DPU chip R&D.

16. Vector Jidian completes over 100M RMB in funding for its angel round, led by a top USD fund. The funds will be used for R&D of neutral-atom general-purpose quantum computers.

17. Anlan Dejian completes nearly RMB 100M A-round financing, with exclusive investment from Qiming Venture Capital. The funds will be used for OpusOne™ clinical trials.

18. Yingmai Medical completes a $12M A round, led by Qiming Venture Capital. The funds will be used for China-registered clinical trials and early overseas clinical development.

19. Naiweisi Biotech completes its A round, with total funding amounting to several hundred million RMB (tens/hundreds of millions). Junlian Capital leads. The funds will be used for R&D of ADC candidate drugs.

20. Duto Technology completes nearly RMB 100M A+ round financing, led by Safu Capital. The funds will be used to build an Agent compiler.

21. Jiateng Robotics completes tens of millions in strategic financing, led by Heertai (和而泰). The funds will be used for the R&D of a embodied-intelligence chassis.

22. Lingsi Intelligent completes nearly RMB 100M in strategic financing, led by a Zhongshan state-owned enterprise industrial fund. The funds will be used to drive industrialization.

23. Baoyue Technology completes nearly RMB 10M in seed financing (under 10s of millions), with contributions from industry angel investors. The funds will be used for iterative upgrades of seamless wearable brain-computer terminal devices.

24. Wanjuan Intelligent completes over RMB 10M in a Pre-A round, led by Tianshi Capital. The funds will be used for R&D and market expansion.

25. CyboPal completes several hundred million RMB in financing, led by Dongfang Furang (东方富海). The funds will be used for technology R&D and market expansion.

26. DEEP.FINE completes a $6.6M Series B round, to expand business in logistics, manufacturing, and defense.

27. Lanyon AI completes $10.6M in financing, led by Dimension. The funds will be used to build a neural-symbolic AI platform.

28. Xpander completes a $7.5M seed round, led by Pico Venture Partners. The funds will be used to build an AI agent management platform

…

📡 8-hour recap | Aug 18, 16:00–24:00

RecodeX message refactoring: over the past 8 hours, tech giants’ activity has been tightly packed—Apple has for the first time acknowledged that regulatory pressure has eased on its App Store controls; Google plans to move Pixel production out of China; and NVIDIA and OpenAI have reached a large-scale compute partnership. In geopolitics, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has been volatile: the total U.S. national debt is approaching $4 trillion, and risk-off sentiment is heating up. AI safety and regulation have become the focus—Meta faces multi-state lawsuits, and OpenAI has launched a teen version of ChatGPT.

🤖 AI & Tech

1. NVIDIA, OpenAI, and SB Energy sign an agreement: OpenAI’s newly built 8-gigawatt compute campus will use NVIDIA’s next-generation chips entirely. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced a $1.5 billion investment to convert Cold War nuclear waste into an AI superfactory, dedicated exclusively to OpenAI for 20 years.

2. OpenAI launches a teen version of ChatGPT, adding parental controls and learning-assistance features, and strengthening protections for self-harm, eating disorders, and emotional dependency issues.

3. Alibaba’s Qwen team open-sources the Qwen3.8-27B model: downloads topped 1 million within two days, topping the Hugging Face trend chart.

4. AI chip startup Etched is raising $700 million at a $21 billion valuation; Jane Street leads the round. The valuation is nearly double compared with a month ago.

5. MIT research finds that as the amount of training data for AI models increases, it becomes harder to attribute outputs in diffusion models, creating new challenges for interpretability and copyright traceability.

📱 Tech Company Updates

1. Apple for the first time acknowledges that new regulatory rules force it to loosen its control over the App Store, putting pressure on its services business worth more than $100 billion. U.S. App Store user spending fell 6% year over year.

2. Google has informed suppliers that starting next year it will no longer produce Pixel devices in China. The plan is to shift the entire production line out of China; the official has not responded.

3. Intel’s Razor Lake processors are expected to adopt TSMC’s N2X process, introducing Big LLC cache for the first time.

4. Xiaomi will bring the full person-car-home ecosystem to IFA 2026. The MIJIA brand will officially enter Europe; Xiaomi’s AIoT platform has 1.16 billion connected devices, up 17.4% year over year.

5. Nokia plans to cut most of its mainland China staff in phases, shutting down nearly all sites by year-end.

💰 Finance & Markets

1. The total U.S. national debt is expected to break $4 trillion this week—several months earlier than previously forecast. The next round of debt-ceiling wrangling may arrive earlier as well.

2. Spot Bitcoin ETF daily net inflows in the U.S. reached $297.55 million, the highest level in nearly three months. Among them, BlackRock’s IBIT saw $160.23 million in net inflows.

3. A CryptoQuant analyst report states that Bitcoin’s apparent demand indicator turned positive for the first time in nine months, possibly signaling a near-term upward trend.

4. Citigroup confirms it will launch bitcoin custody services in 2026, exclusively for institutional clients, using traditional financial technology infrastructure.

5. Japan’s Metaplanet announced it will acquire a U.S. bitcoin custodian company through a $135 million transaction to expand its U.S. business.

🌍 Geopolitics & Macro

1. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Kalibaf said that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the U.S. lifts its oil blockade and sanctions. Trump then posted an edited map on social media, labeling the Strait of Hormuz as “new U.S. territory,” and announced he does not plan to negotiate with Iran.

2. Saudi Arabia has resumed loading and shipping operations inside the Strait of Hormuz, but the 60-day window period has expired. Brent crude prices have climbed back above $91 per barrel.

3. The ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran has broken down. Heightened geopolitical tensions are pushing up international oil prices. The yield on 30-year U.S. Treasuries has risen to the highest level since 2007, and U.S. stock index futures are under pressure.

4. In the U.S., July new home starts’ annualized total was 1.239 million, down 12.4% month over month and below market expectations. The July existing-home sales contract index fell 2.3% month over month to 71.2, the lowest since January.

5. The Colombia earthquake has resulted in 304 deaths, 4,548 injuries, and 426 missing persons. The affected population exceeds 292,000.

⚖️ Regulation & Law

1. More than half of U.S. states have jointly filed an unprecedented lawsuit against Meta, accusing it of intentionally designing addictive products to lure young people. A jury trial begins on Tuesday, seeking a total of $200 billion in damages.

2. The EU’s MiCA is fully implemented. Unlicensed third-country crypto platforms may not promote services to customers in the European Economic Area.

3. South Korea’s Broadcasting and Communications Review Committee announced it will block domestic users’ access to the prediction market platform Polymarket, ruling that it facilitates gambling.

4. The State Council has released amendments to the Regulation on the Administration of Housing Provident Funds, effective September 20, 2026. It broadens the scope for withdrawals, removes the requirement/threshold for withdrawing for rent, adds withdrawal scenarios such as renovation and property fees, and allows individual business operators and others to voluntarily contribute.

📊 Corporate Financial Reports

1. Baidu released its 2026 Q2 financial results: revenue of RMB 31.33 billion was below expectations. Even after adjustments, profit per ADS of RMB 7.22 was still lower than forecast, and U.S. stocks fell more than 2% in pre-market trading. Year over year, net profit fell 68%, but GPU cloud revenue rose 283% year over year.

2. Home Depot released its 2026 fiscal Q2 results: sales reached $47.9 billion, up 5.7% year over year. Same-store sales rose 1.7%. Adjusted earnings per share were $4.92, beating Wall Street expectations.

3. Fuyao Glass published its 2026 interim report: revenue for the first half was RMB 21.97 billion, up 2.4% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 3.97 billion, down 17.4% year over year

…