Alibaba, Moonshot AI, and the US government are in a dispute over what training data and models powered Moonshot's Kimi K3 frontier model.

China's Moonshot AI burst onto the global scene last month with its Kimi K3 model, which grabbed headlines as a cheaper but comparably capable alternative to Claude or ChatGPT. Despite China's self-sufficiency push for AI and semiconductors, Kimi K3 was trained using Nvidia chips.

It is well known that China is building systems, processes, and companies to avoid any reliance on the US for technology—as evidenced by memory firm CXMT's massive $8.6 billion IPO. But the narrative of independence needs time to become reality, as the country's top AI firms remain reliant on Western kit. How they obtain it, however, is worth examining.

Bloomberg reported that Kimi K3 was trained on a 20,000-unit Nvidia cluster supplied by Alibaba, a surprising revelation given export restrictions on Nvidia technology. Moonshot sidesteps these restrictions by routing access through Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand. Yet significant questions remain about the exact hardware involved. Multiple sources close to Moonshot claimed the chips were H200 units—once illegal in China but now available in limited quantities. Alibaba, however, denied this and would only confirm that it rented some Nvidia capacity to Moonshot. US government official Michael Kratsios claimed the chips were from Nvidia's newest Blackwell family, which is banned from sale to Chinese companies. A person familiar with Moonshot's procurement strategy said the company has a channel to access Blackwell chips but did not specify whether this was through a legal rental agreement or illegal purchase.

The US government is clearly keen to enforce its technology restrictions, though enforcement is complicated by shell companies and multiple jurisdictions. More intriguing is the Alibaba-Moonshot relationship. Alibaba is a major investor in Moonshot and clearly facilitates tech access, yet its own AI models rival Kimi. Its role in enabling a competitor to outpace its own solution is reportedly frustrating. As Moonshot seeks additional Blackwell chips to train its newest model, Alibaba's continued partnership remains uncertain.

Tesla is reportedly considering separating or selling its China business to smooth a potential merger with SpaceX, as US-China tensions and SpaceX's defense work raise regulatory and national-security concerns. Tesla denied the report, with Elon Musk calling it "absurdly fake news." SpaceX is also said to be moving to keep Chinese nationals and China-made components out of parts of its supply chain.

Thailand's True Internet Data Center is seeking approximately $2 billion in financing to build a new facility, split across roughly $1.8 billion in US dollar-denominated tranche and two Thai baht portions.

Ant Group's three spin-offs, each operating independently since 2024, are pursuing separate fundraising strategies. Ant Digital Technologies is preparing a financing round ahead of a planned IPO, while Ant International just closed a $1.2 billion Series A backed by Ant Group, Alibaba, and international investors. OceanBase, the database unit, is reportedly eyeing its first outside equity raise.

Indonesia's TelkomMetra is weighing a sale of MDI Ventures, one of the country's biggest corporate venture capital firms with $830 million in committed assets under management. This follows the jailing of former MDI and BRI Ventures executives over a $25 million TaniHub investment, which raised broader questions about state-backed investing in Indonesia.

Singapore's ADA has acquired India's Algonomy in an undisclosed deal to expand its AI-powered retail decisioning business across 34 markets.

Groww's four cofounders are setting up an INR4–5 billion ($45–57 million) second seed and early-stage fund to back consumer internet and deeptech startups, expanding the investment program they have run over the past few years.

After steep losses hit many retail investors, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surged more than 20% in Seoul, helping revive South Korea's AI-linked chip rally. The move tracked a rebound in US technology stocks and highlighted the volatility of the AI trade following this week's brutal sell-off.

Samsung's chip division posted KRW89.2 trillion ($64 billion) in June-quarter operating profit, more than 250 times last year's level and ahead of forecasts, as AI memory shortages lifted earnings. Group net income reached KRW71.3 trillion ($51 billion), narrowing SK Hynix's lead in the AI memory boom.

Zhongji Innolight fell 5.9% on its Hong Kong trading debut after raising HK$53.41 billion ($6.81 billion), giving the Chinese optical transceiver maker a weak start to the city's largest listing since Alibaba in 2019.

Pakistan's Abhi plans to list Abhi Microfinance Bank in an IPO this month, putting a fintech-owned lender on the public market following its acquisition of FINCA Microfinance Bank. The YC-backed company, founded in 2021, has expanded from earned-wage access into embedded finance across Pakistan and the Gulf.

Zepto announced a pre-IPO private placement from existing investors as it prepares to list within SEBI's approved timeline, after earlier pausing IPO plans to raise more than INR10 billion ($105 million). The quick-commerce startup is expected to seek a $4–4.2 billion valuation, below its $7 billion private valuation six months ago.

South Korea plans to inject KRW20 trillion ($14 billion) into its sovereign wealth fund for strategic investments in AI, data centers, and infrastructure, expanding its mandate to domestic assets for the first time. The move follows the technology stock rout and provides Seoul another state-backed vehicle for AI-era capital allocation.

China's Unitree has launched a STAR Market IPO that could raise approximately $620 million, giving one of the country's best-known robotics startups a domestic listing path as humanoid and quadruped robots attract heavier investor interest. The Hangzhou company sells consumer and industrial robots and has become a flagbearer for China's embodied-AI push.

Japan's Kioxia approved a 3-for-1 stock split effective October 1 after its April-June results missed analyst estimates despite a sharp AI-driven memory rebound. The chipmaker has also started shipping samples of its ninth-generation NAND flash memory chips for smartphones and PCs, reporting performance more than 30% higher than the prior generation.

Southeast Asia private-equity investment fell to $935.5 million across 10 deals in Q2 2026, down from $9.2 billion in the previous quarter, as capital concentrated in mid-market transactions. Exits proved stronger, reaching a four-year high of $4.2 billion, led by Singapore real estate and infrastructure deals.

Chinese venture capital firms are seeking approximately $35 billion for at least 60 new dollar-denominated funds following a three-year fundraising slump, as AI breakthroughs, robotics advances, and recent tech IPOs revive investor interest. HSG, IDG Capital, Matrix Partners China, and Future Capital are among firms marketing or planning new funds.

Xi Jinping called for wider defense use of unmanned and AI technologies as China pushes to build a more advanced PLA before its 100th anniversary in 2027. The directive came at a Politburo study session and paired military-civilian integration with tighter oversight following a widening anti-graft crackdown.