Manus to resume independent operations
Artificial intelligence agent startup Manus announced on Tuesday that it will resume operations as an independent company. The move follows the firm’s acquisition by Meta Platforms Inc. on Dec. 29, 2025. As part of the transition, some user data generated on or after the acquisition date will be deleted from Aug. 23 to 24, with affected users advised to back up their data immediately.
Tencent Music reports slowing revenue growth amid fierce competition
Tencent Music Entertainment Group reported on Tuesday that its second-quarter revenue grew 5.8% year-on-year to 8.9 billion yuan, while non-IFRS net profit rose 4.4% to 2.7 billion yuan. Both growth rates slowed compared to the previous quarter. The company stopped disclosing its monthly active users after the metric began declining in the first quarter of the year. Management noted that intense competition is pressuring subscription and advertising revenues, forcing the company to seek growth from intellectual property consumption such as concerts and through its newly acquired audio platform Ximalaya.
Ant Group leads investment in Daimon Robotics
Embodied artificial intelligence startup Daimon Robotics announced on Tuesday that it secured hundreds of millions of yuan in a funding round led by Ant Group Co. Ltd. The company, incubated by a research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, began official operations in 2023. Daimon focuses on building a full-stack physical AI system that integrates tactile sensing, data and models to enable genuine physical intelligence in robots.
China Literature’s short drama revenue surges 230%
Tencent-backed online reading platform China Literature Ltd. reported on Tuesday that its revenue for the first half of 2026 rose 10.7% year-on-year to 3.5 billion yuan. Intellectual property (IP) revenue jumped 41.9% to 1.6 billion yuan, while revenue from short dramas and AI-generated comics surged 230% to 430 million yuan. Gross merchandise volume for IP derivatives grew 60% to 780 million yuan.
Zhipu AI’s programming assistant surpasses 1 million users
Chinese artificial intelligence firm Zhipu AI announced on Tuesday that its programming product ZCode has surpassed 1 million users. The company introduced new features, including idle task execution, which allows complex coding tasks to run automatically during off-peak hours without deducting user credits. The update aims to transition ZCode from a conversational assistant to a platform capable of autonomously delivering complex tasks.
