Top stories for tomorrow: China accelerates AI push, Baidu prepares spin-off, Biren goes public

Baidu is preparing to spin off its business and possibly list its AI chip division Kunlunxin in Hong Kong. GPU developer Biren Technology made a triumphant debut on the stock exchange, doubling its market capitalization on the first day of trading. Read about these and other topics in our review of key events as of the morning of January 2.

China's Baidu has announced plans to spin off its Kunlunxin AI chip development division and list it on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CNBC reports. The application has been filed confidentially, with the terms of the listing yet to be determined and subject to regulatory approval.

Baidu owns about 59% of Kunlunxin and notes that the deal may not go through. The spin-off should attract relevant investors and expand financing amid US pressure and restrictions on access to Nvidia chips. Kunlunxin is a key element of Baidu's strategy to create a "complete AI stack": from chips and data centers to Ernie models, the TV channel notes. The company already sells chips to third-party customers, has broken even, and has received large orders from China Mobile.

Shares of Chinese AI chip developer Shanghai Biren Technology more than doubled on their first day of trading in Hong Kong, kicking off the 2026 stock market year, Reuters reports. The shares started at HK$35.70 against an offering price of HK$19.60 and rose nearly 120% during the session. The successful debut reflects strong investor interest in Chinese AI and semiconductor companies amid Beijing's policy of reducing dependence on the US, the agency notes.

Biren raised HK$5.58 billion, with demand from institutional investors exceeding supply by nearly 26 times and retail subscriptions oversubscribed by more than 2,300 times. The company develops GPUs and computing systems for AI and high-performance computing, and its BR100 chip is positioned as an alternative to Nvidia products, Reuters reports.

Tesla ended last year on a high note on the stock market: investors actively bought shares, betting on statements by company CEO Elon Musk about AI, robotics, and autonomous vehicles, writes Bloomberg. However, the picture is different in the real world — according to the agency's estimates, in the fourth quarter of 2025, the company delivered about 440,900 vehicles, which is 11% less than a year earlier, while Tesla's own estimate points to a drop of up to 15%. Wall Street's forecasts for deliveries in 2026 have also deteriorated sharply — from the previously expected 3 million vehicles to approximately 1.8 million.

2025 was a turbulent year for the company: sales slumped due to the conversion of factories to the updated Model Y and negative reactions to Musk's political activity in the administration of US President Donald Trump. Against this backdrop, Tesla's shares fell 45% at the beginning of the year, the agency notes. The recovery began after Musk focused on launching robotaxis—in June, Tesla launched a limited service in Austin.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has published a research paper describing a more efficient approach to creating artificial intelligence, designed to reduce the computational and energy costs of training models, Bloomberg reports. The paper, co-authored by company founder Liang Wen-feng, presents the Manifold-Constrained Hyper-Connections architecture (a neural network architecture concept) aimed at improving the scalability of AI systems in resource-constrained environments.

Previously, similar publications by DeepSeek preceded the launch of large models: a year ago, the company surprised the market with the R1 reasoning model, created at a significantly lower cost than its Western counterparts, the agency recalls. Now, expectations are focused on the next flagship R2 system, which is expected in February. Development is proceeding against the backdrop of tough US export restrictions, which deprive Chinese companies of access to advanced Nvidia chips and force them to seek non-standard architectural solutions.

— The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed for holidays.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 2.72% in trading on January 2. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is closed for the holidays.

— In South Korea, the Kospi index rose 2.29%, and the Kosdaq rose 2.15%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.15%.

— S&P 500 futures rose 0.48%, Nasdaq Composite futures rose 0.73%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.3%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor