Companies
The players
A dated, sourced state of play for each company driving Chinese AI, built from our daily reporting. One page, the key facts with named sources, and the issues where we covered them.
DeepSeek
The open-weight efficiency lab, now designing silicon
Huawei Ascend
The domestic AI accelerator that replaced Nvidia in China
SMIC
The foundry that makes China’s leading-edge AI chips, and the bottleneck
CXMT
China’s domestic DRAM maker, and the memory the AI build-out made scarce
Cambricon
China’s first pure-play AI chip designer past a trillion yuan, and the shipments that gap the valuation
Zhipu AI
The GLM lab, and the first listed Chinese model company
Moore Threads
The domestic GPU maker, from a record IPO to triple-digit revenue growth
Biren
The blacklisted GPU designer that opened 2026’s listing window
MetaX
The AMD-founded GPU maker with the sharpest debut of the cycle
Enflame
Tencent’s AI chip bet, cleared to list and dependent on one customer
Kunlunxin
Baidu’s AI chip arm, and a valuation that moved seventeenfold in seven months
Baidu Apollo Go
Baidu’s robotaxi, exporting its self-driving stack from Hong Kong to London
WeRide
The Nasdaq-listed robotaxi company exporting a driving stack, not a car
BYD
The EV giant that quietly built its own driving model and 4nm chip
Unitree
The humanoid maker every unlisted Chinese robot company is priced against
Moonshot AI
The Kimi lab that treats open weights as a licence, not a giveaway
Subscribe
The stories English coverage misses, every morning
I scan 100+ Chinese-language sources every day and write up the China AI stories English coverage misses. It goes out every weekday. Free.
Free. One email each weekday morning. Unsubscribe anytime.