SCMP : China has 60 drugs under trial to rival Ozempic in US$150 billion weight-

China has 60 drugs under trial to rival Ozempic in US$150 billion weight-loss market
Over 60 novel drug candidates are in late-stage clinical trials in China, and these will potentially compete directly with US drugmakers

When Hong Kong office worker W.K. Chang began putting on weight as a teenager, her doctor said it was due to hormonal imbalances that slowed her metabolism. She reached a peak weight of 100kg about a year ago, but has since lost 25kg.

The secret to losing a quarter of her weight? Chang, who asked not to be identified by her full name, was one of the city’s first 200 chronic obesity patients to receive access to a new weight-loss drug, originally developed for diabetes. At a cost of HK$2,700 (US$344) each month, it was not cheap.

“I’m lucky since my family pays for my drug bills, but my friends who want it can’t afford it,” she said. “My doctor said I can reduce the dosage and the costs provided I keep up with my low-sugar diet and do cardiovascular exercises to maintain my weight.”


Chang’s friends and others with similar health problems may soon have better and more affordable access to the drugs that treat both diabetes and obesity, analysts said.

That is because the patent on semaglutide – the drug that mimics the naturally-produced hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that regulates blood sugar, appetite and digestion – expires in China next year. In other markets, the patent will expire in 2031 or 2032. Semaglutide is sold by Novo Nordisk as Ozempic.

Analysts said cheaper generic versions of the drug could then be launched by rivals, bringing down prices. Up to 20 generic drug players in China will vie for market share and exert downward pressure on prices, according to a report published in May by Boston-based L.E.K. Consulting.

In addition, over 60 novel GLP-1 drug candidates were undergoing late-stage clinical trials in China, and these would potentially compete directly with semaglutide and rival product tirzepatide developed by US-based Eli Lilly, the report added. The two products dominate the global weight-loss drug market.
In April, Beijing launched a nationwide weight-management campaign to address what it said was “a major public health threat”.

According to a study commissioned by the National Health Commission, some 34.3 per cent of adults were overweight, while another 16.4 per cent were obese in 2018 – up from 22.8 per cent and 7.1 per cent in 2002, respectively.

Just over 70 per cent of the population would be overweight or obese by 2030, and if the problem was not addressed effectively, it would consume 22 per cent of the nation’s total healthcare budget, according to the commission.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide for type 2 diabetes in 2017 and extended approval for obesity and related diseases in 2021.

Pharmaceutical firms jumped in, encouraged by an untapped market unhindered by high prices, and the proven efficacy of GLP-1 drugs that could reduce a patient’s weight by 12 to 20 per cent within 50 weeks, while claiming a relatively safe profile with the most common side effects limited to gastrointestinal discomfort, said Chen Ziyi, head of Asia healthcare research at Goldman Sachs.

Semaglutide was the world’s second bestselling drug last year, generating US$20.8 billion in sales from two formulations for diabetes and US$8.4 billion from a formulation for chronic weight management, after Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda that raked in US$29.5 billion, according to the pharmaceutical publication Drug Discovery & Development.

Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide recorded sales of US$11.5 billion from diabetes prescriptions and US$4.9 billion from weight loss use.

“GLP-1 obesity drugs will help drive record overall prescription drug sales growth and catapult Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to the top of the company rankings by the end of the decade,” London-based consultancy Evaluate wrote in a report a year ago.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were No 9 and No 11, respectively, in terms of global pharmaceutical revenues last year, according to Drug Discovery & Development.

Industry estimates for the global anti-obesity drugs market range from US$100 billion to US$150 billion by 2035. Sales last year were around US$30 billion, according to US healthcare data provider IQVIA.

In comparison, the global PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies market – the biggest oncology drugs category by sales – is projected to grow 11.9 per cent annually to reach US$110 billion by 2031, up from US$50 billion last year, according to research firm iHealthcareAnalyst.

“Even the largest category of oncology drugs may be smaller than anti-obesity medications in terms of sales potential, mainly because the prevalence of obesity is much higher than that of other chronic diseases,” Goldman Sachs’ Chen said.
In mainland China, semaglutide was approved for diabetes in 2021 and as an anti-obesity medication last year, while tirzepatide was given the marketing greenlight for both uses last year.

China’s weight loss drugs market could grow to 40 billion yuan (US$5.6 billion) in 2035 from a low base, according to Chen. Sales are primarily driven by Novo Nordisk, which reported US$285 million in GLP-1 drug sales for diabetes in China in the first quarter, and US$11 million in sales for weight loss applications.

Chen said his projection accounted for “hard core” medical demand from obese patients who tend to have other health issues like cardiovascular and kidney diseases, and need longer-term usage of the drugs, as well as demand from overweight users who may need it for only three to four months.

“Weight loss drug demand will depend on the duration of usage, their pricing and companies’ marketing strategies,” Chen said. “Even at 40 billion yuan, the market is big enough to attract many domestic and international firms to invest in its research and development.”

New entrants with novel products would compete with the incumbents on the depth, speed and permanence of weight loss achievable, as well as price and usage convenience, he noted. The ability to claim less severe side effects, such as nausea and muscle loss, would also give newcomers an advantage.
Five Chinese firms have applied for marketing approval for generic versions of semaglutide, according to Goldman Sachs.

On June 27, eastern Jiangsu province-based Innovent Biologics said it received Chinese regulatory approval for mazdutide, which it claimed was the world’s first to mimic the natural hormones of GLP-1 and glucagon, the latter of which plays a crucial role in regulating blood glucose levels.

Listed in Hong Kong, Innovent licensed the China development and marketing rights for mazdutide from Eli Lilly in 2019. It has also applied for approval to use the drug for treating diabetes in China.

Using the once-weekly injected drug, some 610 overweight or obese participants in its clinical trial achieved an average weight loss of 14.8 per cent by week 48, and an 80 per cent reduction in liver fat content, Innovent said.

In January, industry media Fierce Pharma ranked mazdutide No 7 out of the top 10 most anticipated drugs to be launched this year, with projected sales of US$1.3 billion in 2030.

Innovent – which did not respond to queries about its market launch date, sales channels and pricing – could generate over 600 million yuan of revenue from mazdutide this year and reach peak sales of 3.5 billion yuan in 2029, according to a July 1 report by Zheng Yurou, an equity analyst at investment research firm Morningstar.

However, the future remains uncertain, according to Chen of Goldman Sachs. “No one has a crystal ball to see what the landscape will be like in 2027,” he said. “It is too complicated, given this will also be the first time a major blockbuster not covered by the Chinese government’s national health insurance drug reimbursement scheme faces the onslaught of generics.”

Sales channels and pricing tactics would determine the growth of various market segments, which would include demand from moderately overweight people who might use the drugs on an “off-label” basis, Chen noted. This refers to usage and prescriptions for conditions and in dosages not yet approved by drug regulators.

“It is going to be a hybrid market with decent percentages of sales from each of the accessible channels – hospitals, retail outlets, online channels,” Chen said. “Besides medical demand, you also have people who will use it for two months to fit into a tight dress for a wedding.”

The current retail prices of GLP-1 drugs in China range from 2,700 yuan to 4,800 yuan per month, but could be lower for off-label use, much lower than in the US, he noted.

Many users were likely to pivot to cheaper options if the efficacy profiles were similar or slightly less superior, as long as they were within a few percentage points, said Morningstar’s Zheng, adding that the longer-term race lies in next-generation products, especially orally administered ones.

Nomura’s head of China healthcare research, Zhang Jialin, expected price competition to intensify from 2027, adding that Innovent would likely invest in the development of non-traditional sales channels of retail and online pharmacies where the incumbents had yet to establish a strong presence.

While GLP-1 drugs could effectively signal to the brain to eat less and slow down the pace at which food was digested, they needed to be taken as an adjunct to a healthy diet and exercise, said Francis Chow Chun-chung, founding president of the Hong Kong Association for the Study of Obesity.


Chang, the Hong Kong office worker, took that advice. “My weight loss was more pronounced than many others on the drug since I heeded my doctor’s advice to supplement the weekly injection with moderate exercise,” she said.

“I had a bit of a rebirth moment after the treatment. I gained confidence in myself and now have more choices when shopping for clothes,” she added.

WWD : At Wimbledon, Fashion Matters Just Much as Tennis

At Wimbledon, Fashion Matters Just Much as Tennis
The grounds at Wimbledon have become a fashion festival with players spotted wearing Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Audemars Piguet, and brands using the event as a promotional platform.


LONDON — Wimbledon has reached new heights this year with its young, high-profile players transforming into stars beyond the tennis court — with help from fashion and luxury brands.

Jannik Sinner, the Italian tennis player who ranks as the world number one, has been stepping onto Centre Court and Court One carrying his Gucci duffel bag, while fellow Italian player Lorenzo Musetti arrived in a white leather Bottega Veneta bomber jacket last week after being revealed as the brand’s latest ambassador.

Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian tennis player who ranks as the women’s world number one, may have been holding back tears during the press conference following her defeat against U.S. player Amanda Anisimova, but it was her two watches — one on each wrist — that took the spotlight.

On one wrist, she was wearing a Whoop fitness watch with a customized strap featuring a roaring tiger’s face. The other wrist was adorned with an Audemars Piguet, its dial dotted with diamonds.

Brands are looking beyond the players to transmit their messages, and bidding for luxurious suites to host lunches and activations with celebrities.

Over the last two weeks Ralph Lauren, Range Rover, Evian and American Express have been hosting the likes of Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro, Connor Swindells, Sabrina Elba, Daniel Ricciardo, Jason Isaacs and Richard E. Grant.

According to a report from WeArisma, an influencer analytics company, Ralph Lauren drove the highest EMV, or earned media value, with $2.6 million. The U.S. brand has been the tournament’s official outfitter since 2006, and regularly hosts celebrities in its new suite a few steps from Centre Court.

Prada ranked second on the list with an EMV of $1.6 million following Louis Partridge’s Instagram post of himself wearing a Prada suit and enjoying afternoon tea.

Louis Vuitton came in third with an EMV of $654,500, followed by Gucci with an EMV of $571,300.

Jenny Tsai, chief executive officer and founder of WeArisma, said the company is predicting “a continued rise in brand ambassadorships that blur the lines between athleticism and lifestyle. Tennis in particular is becoming the next frontier; players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are fashion’s new faces. Meanwhile, brands like Ralph Lauren show how long-term investment in a sport can pay off in cultural capital, not just impressions.”

Retailers and brands are also taking inspiration from the game and riding the wave of consumers’ growing interest, and participation in, sport.

Mr Porter’s own brand Mr P recently launched a tennis capsule following the success of its Mr P golf capsule, which debuted in 2021.

“The golf capsule continues to grow each year. Over the last three months alone, customer searches for golf shoes have increased by over 400 percent,” said Liza Canneford, director of private labels and circular services at Mr Porter.

“As the fashion landscape continues to evolve alongside a growing focus on physical well-being, the connection between sport and style will only deepen,” she added.

Prior to the Wimbledon Championships, Gucci’s New Bond Street store unveiled its tennis-themed window display highlighting its collaboration with the American tennis racket brand Head.

At Selfridges, menswear brand Palmes has opened a pop-up with a collection of tennis-inspired pieces.

“We’ve leaned into the tenniscore aesthetic over the last couple of summer seasons and this year we’ve expanded it even further. Our focus brands in this space include Lululemon, Varley and On Running,” said Grace Neal, buying manager.

On the grounds of the Wimbledon Championships, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has also been watching the sales of its apparel collection soar.

According to the club, 51,631 units of merchandise had been sold as of Friday, with 12,883 towels and 10,942 white caps with the Wimbledon logo.

The brand’s 2025 collection features preppy pleated skirts, cardigans with square breast pockets and caps with a script typeface, which have already sold out.

WWD : Levi’s Is Taming the Beast of Corporate Reinvention

Levi’s Is Taming the Beast of Corporate Reinvention
And Wall Street is warming up to CEO Michelle Gass’ efforts to transform the denim maker.

The corporate reinvention is a fickle beast.

One can be set off by a new chief executive officer, the passage of time or some retail disaster — self-made or otherwise.

But once they get going, strategic plans to refocus product offerings, refresh operations, reprioritize investments and more or less change everything can take on a life of their own.

CEOs are both driving the process and along for the ride as companies start to flex under a new, internal momentum.

Wall Street usually allows some kind of a grace period — a year or maybe two, but not three — when they’ll buy into a new corporate vision and promises for the future.

But sooner or later, they’ll want results or more proof points that they’re coming.

CEO Michelle Gass is right on that cusp between telling the world how Levi Strauss & Co. is changing — selling denim head to toe, growing in women’s and building with its own stores — and just showing the results.

Gass told WWD on Thursday that the Levi’s brand is “stronger than ever” and “resonating around the world.”

That was backed up by a 9 percent increase in second-quarter organic sales and a 39 percent rise in adjusted income, to $89 million. The outlook for the full year was also raised, even while baking in higher tariffs.

Investors traded shares of the company up 11.1 percent to $21.93 on Friday.

Jay Sole, an analyst at UBS, described the results as “one of Levi’s best quarters over the past few years.”

“We believe Levi’s ongoing transformation into a global, multichannel, lifestyle brand for both men and women from what traditionally was a North America, wholesale, men’s, denim business is happening,” Sole said. “This change should fuel strong long-term growth.”

The analyst predicted that sentiment on Wall Street would improve for Levi’s.

“Our conversations with investors suggest most want to own only the most ‘defensive’ and ‘high-quality’ softline names, such as TJX Cos. Inc.,” Sole said. “The issue is there are very few stocks of this type, and they have high price-to-earning ratios.

“As investors have looked for lower P/E alternatives, names like Ralph Lauren Corp. and Tapestry Inc. have emerged. This has boosted sentiment and driven P/E expansion for those stocks. We believe investors will decide Levi’s belongs in that group as the company continues to produce more exceptional quarters like it did in Q2.”

Likewise, Alex Straton at Morgan Stanley called it an “impressive 2Q beat” and raised his target price on the stock.

And TD Cowen’s Oliver Chen said traffic, conversion and pricing were all moving in the right direction.

“Cultural and product relevance remains apparent as Levi’s executes on: baggy dad jeans, quiet Western aesthetic, Nike collaboration, thermal regulation, and Y2K cultural relevance,” Chen said.

“The story at Levi’s is focused, direct-to-consumer growth on units — +16 stores in 2Q and plans to open +250 stores over the next five years — and DTC revenue +6 percent year over year, underpinned by product execution combined with better inventory management strategies and speed,” he said.

Levi’s has a market capitalization of $8.7 billion, putting it well ahead of other names wanting to give a new look to the market, including Macy’s Inc. (with a market cap of $3.4 billion), PVH Corp. ($3.5 billion) and VF Corp. ($4.8 billion).

Wall Street is now looking to see if Levi’s can make the jump from leading that pack to joining other companies that are bearing the fruits of steady reinvention, including Ralph Lauren ($17.4 billion) and Coach-parent Tapestry ($20.5 billion).

WWD : Louis Vuitton Notifies U.K. Customers of Data Breach

Louis Vuitton Notifies U.K. Customers of Data Breach
It's the third known cyberattack on a brand owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

PARIS — Louis Vuitton is the latest brand in the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton fold to be targeted by hackers.

The French fashion house notified customers in the U.K. that some of their personal data had been unlawfully accessed, though it said no payment information leaked.

“Louis Vuitton recently discovered an unauthorized party accessed some of the data we hold for our clients. We immediately began taking steps to investigate and contain this incident, supported by leading cybersecurity experts,” the brand said.

“While our investigation is ongoing, we can confirm that no payment information was contained in the database accessed. We are working to notify the relevant regulators and affected clients in line with applicable law,” it added.

This follows similar attempts to gain access to customer data at Dior in China and Vuitton in South Korea.

The latest data breach follows a series of cyber attacks on U.K. retailers including Marks & Spencer and Harrods. Four people have been arrested in the U.K. in relation to the April attacks, the National Crime Agency said Thursday.

In a recent interview with WWD, Franck Le Moal, group IT and technology director at LVMH, said the luxury conglomerate was battling a sharp increase in cybercrime.

“There has been an absolutely exponential growth in cyber risk in recent months,” said Le Moal. “This is a constant concern for us. Protecting our customers’ data is of utmost importance.”

Despite a global downturn in luxury spending that has hit budgets across the industry, LVMH is bolstering investment in cybersecurity in partnership with Google Cloud, he said.

“But it’s a game of cops and robbers, and it’s an ongoing battle,” he said. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, all you need is the occasional tiny flaw in the system to benefit this increasingly large-scale cyber crime industry. This is a challenge for all businesses, including luxury.”

Vuitton apologized to its clients, and pledged to reinforce guardrails to protect sensitive information.

“We continuously work to update our security measures to protect against the evolving threat landscape, and we have taken steps to further strengthen the protection of our systems,” it said.

Julius Cerniauskas, chief executive officer of web intelligence platform and proxy provider Oxylabs, said the spate of attacks targeting LVMH brands should serve as a red flag.

“The fact that this is the third breach to hit the wider LVMH group in recent months suggests more than just bad luck — it points to a wider vulnerability in their cyber defenses. Whether it’s Louis Vuitton in the U.K., Dior, or other parts of the group, attackers are clearly finding ways in and exploiting weaknesses,” he said.

“This wave of attacks on both luxury brands and high-street names shows just how attractive retailers are to cybercriminals. They hold vast amounts of customer data, and when defenses are weak or inconsistent, it’s only a matter of time before someone takes advantage,” Cerniauskas added.

The Information : Google to Pay $2.4 Billion for Windsurf Staff, IP After Startu

Google to Pay $2.4 Billion for Windsurf Staff, IP After Startup Ends OpenAI Talks

The Takeaway
• Google will hire Windsurf’s CEO and some of its staff
• OpenAI, Windsurf broke off talks after Windsurf’s concern over Microsoft IP arrangement
• Google will pay $2.4 billion for nonexclusive license that will pay cash to employees, compensation

OpenAI’s discussions to buy Windsurf, the maker of a popular artificial intelligence coding assistant formerly known as Codeium, have ended. Instead, Google will hire Windsurf’s CEO, Varun Mohan, and some of the startup’s staff, both Google and Windsurf said.

The monthslong talks between OpenAI to buy the startup for $3 billion ended in recent days. Among the reasons: Windsurf’s team raised concerns over how the coding assistant would fit into the OpenAI and Microsoft agreement, which requires OpenAI to share its technology with Microsoft, according to two people familiar with the company’s discussions.

Google is paying $2.4 billion for an nonexclusive licensing fee that will pay for Windsurf’s technology and multiple years of compensation for Windsurf staff coming to the company, according to a person with direct knowledge. It will not take a stake in the company, Google said.

The proceeds will likely result in a return for at least some of the startup’s investors, said one person familiar with the deal. Employees at the company will also get cash from the deal, although it is unclear how much or on what terms, according to a different person.

The deal represents a quick payout for investors in the four-year-old startup, which raised $240 million from Greenoaks Capital Partners, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins and others.

Kleiner Perkins, which invested about $100 million in the company after leading its Series B, is expected to receive around three times its investment, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Greenoaks has invested $65 million after leading the startup’s seed and Series A rounds and owns 20% of the company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Meta Platforms also held talks with Windsurf about a deal or acquisition, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Other large tech companies have paid huge sums of money as part of similar transactions, in which they hire much sought-after AI talent without outright acquiring their companies. Last month, Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI while also hiring the startup’s CEO Alexandr Wang and several of its top employees.

Last year, Google hired Character AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas while paying the startup a $2.7 billion licensing fee, which was used to pay out shareholders. And also last year, Microsoft paid a roughly $650 million licensing fee to Inflection to hire most of its staff, including its co-founders. The unconventional agreements have allowed the big tech companies to quickly hire top AI researchers without going through the lengthy review process of a formal merger.

The Windsurf deal will strengthen Google in one of the most important and competitive areas in AI: automated coding tools that make it faster for engineers to write and edit software.

One of the hottest startups in the category, Cursor, recently crossed $500 million in annual recurring revenue and has turned down interest from acquirers in the past, including OpenAI, according to a person with knowledge of the deal discussions. Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, last month raised money from Accel and other investors valuing the company at $9.9 billion.

Mohan and the other Windsurf employees will join Google DeepMind to work on agentic coding, Google said.

Meanwhile, Windsurf will continue to operate as an independent company. Most of its roughly 250 employees will remain at the startup working on building coding tools for large businesses. Windsurf’s head of business Jeff Wang will become CEO of the company, according to a company blog post.

Under OpenAI’s existing agreement with Microsoft, the software giant has exclusive rights to host OpenAI models in its cloud and gets access to OpenAI’s intellectual property through 2030. OpenAI had wanted to exempt Windsurf from the existing contract, The Information previously reported.

The deal talks between OpenAI and Windsurf have been complicated. For one, OpenAI has been trying to renegotiate its deal with Microsoft to prevent the software giant from getting the intellectual property of Windsurf. Meanwhile, Anthropic, which developers see as building the most effective coding model, limited Windsurf’s access to its models after the deal talks first spilled into the public. Anthropic co-founder and chief scientist Jared Kaplan said in an interview that he thought “it would be odd for us to be selling Claude to OpenAI,” when explaining the decision to cut off access.

Fortune and The Verge first reported some details of the deals

The Information : Huawei AI Chip Redesign Aims to Break Nvidia’s China Dominance

Huawei AI Chip Redesign Aims to Break Nvidia’s China Dominance

The Takeaway
• Huawei plans to develop a more flexible, general-purpose AI chip
• The new chip will make it easier for AI developers to transfer from Nvidia’s software
• Huawei has limited experience in general-purpose GPU design

China’s Huawei Technologies is plotting a fundamental redesign of its next artificial intelligence chip in a bid to seize market share from Nvidia.

The Chinese tech giant is working on a new AI chip design that would allow its chips to be used for a wider array of AI development work than its current ones can handle, according to two people with knowledge of the plan. That would bring Huawei’s chips closer to the design used by both Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, the people said, making it easier for Chinese AI developers to switch from Nvidia’s chips to Huawei’s.

As a result, Huawei hopes it can make its chips more appealing to Chinese tech companies, which still prefer Nvidia’s chips, even though U.S. export controls have made them increasingly difficult to buy. Most cutting-edge AI models in the country, including those from DeepSeek and Alibaba, are trained and deployed using Nvidia’s chips.

While local tech firms have tested Huawei chips, few have fully adopted them. That’s largely because of the difficulty developers face in adapting to Huawei’s distinct software system, after years of building products using Nvidia’s Cuda software, which runs on Nvidia’s chips.

AI developers using Huawei’s planned new chip design will be able to run the code they write based on Nvidia’s software—although Huawei will still need to develop software that translates the commands from Nvidia’s software into a language its own chips can understand.

Over time, the shortage of Nvidia chips could give Chinese tech firms little alternative but to use locally made chips. Since May, President Donald Trump’s administration has blocked Nvidia from selling even the modified AI chips it had formerly been allowed to export to China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warned in the latest earnings call that the U.S. export restrictions have made the $50 billion Chinese market inaccessible. “Export restrictions have spurred China’s innovation and scale,” he said on a recent earnings call.

Huawei didn’t have a comment.

Exploring Options

Huawei’s existing AI chips are part of a class of chips known as application-specific integrated circuits, which are designed for very specific purposes, such as certain AI calculation tasks. Nvidia’s chips, by contrast, use more standardized and established designs that can be used for a wider variety of AI tasks. Nvidia’s chips can therefore run all kinds of AI tasks very quickly, while Huawei’s chips are only efficient in certain calculations.


Huawei executives want its next-generation chip, the Ascend 920, to be a general-purpose graphics processing unit, said the two people. Such chips—similar to Nvidia’s—are capable of handling a wide array of AI tasks and accommodating various development methods.

Huawei is still working on the Ascend 920’s design, and the chip isn’t expected to go into mass production until next year at the earliest. Multiple teams are exploring various design options. If the new chip doesn’t perform at the level required, Huawei can switch back to the older design, the two people added.

The redesign won’t be easy for Huawei to pull off. The company lacks the decades of experience in designing traditional GPUs that Nvidia and AMD possess. Furthermore, U.S. export controls continue to restrict Huawei and its chipmaking partners from getting access to the most advanced equipment necessary to produce these more complex GPGPUs.

But if Huawei is successful, the redesign could dramatically improve its standing in the AI race. “Compatibility with Nvidia’s software is important for small developers, who often lack the resources to switch to a new system,” said Qingyuan Lin, a senior analyst at Bernstein covering the semiconductor industry in China.

TechCrunch : Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart

Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart

OpenAI’s deal to acquire the viral AI coding startup Windsurf for $3 billion fell apart on Friday, according to The Verge.

In a shocking twist, Google DeepMind is now hiring Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some of the startup’s top researchers. A Google spokesperson confirmed the hiring of Windsurf’s leaders in a statement to TechCrunch.

Notably, Google is not taking a stake in Windsurf and will not have any control over the company. However, as part of the deal, Google will have a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, meaning the AI coding startup remains free to license its technology to others.

Bloomberg reports that Google is paying $2.4 billion to license Windsurf’s technology and hire its top employees.

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” said Google spokesperson Chris Pappas in an email to TechCrunch.

The deal represents the AI ecosystem’s latest reverse-acquihire, in which a company hires a startup’s top talent and licenses its technology but does not outright acquire the company. Google previously conducted a similar deal to hire back Character.AI CEO Noam Shazeer, as did Microsoft to hire Mustafa Suleyman. These deals have helped several Big Tech companies increase their position in the AI race without drawing regulatory scrutiny.

“We are excited to be joining Google DeepMind along with some of the Windsurf team,” said Mohan and Chen in a statement to TechCrunch. “We are proud of what Windsurf has built over the last four years and are excited to see it move forward with their world class team and kick-start the next phase.”

As of Friday, Windsurf’s head of business, Jeff Wang, will take over as the startup’s interim CEO, he announced in a post on social media. Most of Windsurf’s 250 person team is not headed to Google DeepMind and will continue offering its AI coding tools for enterprise customers.


OpenAI’s deal to acquire Windsurf has reportedly been a major tension point in the ChatGPT maker’s contract renegotiations with Microsoft. Microsoft currently has access to all of OpenAI’s intellectual property; however, OpenAI didn’t want its largest backer to get Windsurf’s AI coding technology as well, according to previous reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier on Friday, Fortune reported that the exclusivity period on OpenAI’s offer to acquire Windsurf had expired, meaning that Windsurf would now be free to explore other offers. It seems that Windsurf didn’t wait long.

In recent months, Windsurf has been one of the hottest AI coding startups on the market. In April, the startup’s ARR reached about $100 million, TechCrunch previously reported, up from about $40 million months earlier. That rapid growth attracted suitors such as OpenAI and apparently Google.

The addition of Mohan, Chen, and other Windsurf leaders could significantly boost Google’s ability to build AI coding tools. In recent months, AI model providers have focused more on offering AI coding applications to entice developers. Anthropic has boosted its revenue significantly on the back of its AI coding tool, Claude Code, while OpenAI continues to pitch Codex, its AI coding agent, to software engineers.

Windsurf, on the other hand, is left in a much more uncertain position as a result of this deal. Other AI startups that have seen their leaders hired away have struggled to sustain the same momentum they had beforehand. Scale AI lost customers as a result of its deal with Meta, whereas Inflection had to pivot entirely from consumer AI after its deal with Microsoft.

It seems likely that Windsurf could suffer a similar fate.

CrunchBase : The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Fintech Attracts Biggest Roun

The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Fintech Attracts Biggest Rounds While AI Holds Strong

This week was a productive period for fintech funding, with two companies in the space — iCapital and Bilt Rewards — pulling in the largest rounds. In addition, we also saw sizable financings for companies in a range of other industries, including micromobility, drug discovery and green steel.

1. iCapital, $820M, fintech: iCapital, a fintech platform for alternative investments and investors, raised more than $820 million in a funding round that took its valuation to over $7.5 billion. SurgoCap Partners and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price co-led the financing for the New York-based company.

2. Bilt Rewards, $250M, fintech: Bilt Rewards, a rewards program for home renters to use with local merchants, raised $250 million in a venture round led by General Catalyst and GID. The financing sets a $10.75 billion valuation for the New York-based company.

3. Also, $200M, micromobility: Also, a micromobility startup spun out of Rivian, raised a reported $200 million in a new financing led by Greenoaks at a $1 billion valuation. The Palo Alto, California-based company is developing small EVs, with an initial product launch anticipated next year.

3. Varda, $187M, spacetech and drug discovery: El Segundo, California-based Varda, a self-described “microgravity-enabled life sciences company,” raised $187 million in a Series C led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital. The company bases its research on the finding that materials including active pharmaceutical ingredients crystallize differently in space, enabling novel drug formulations.

4. MaintainX, $150M, equipment maintenance: MaintainX, which operates an equipment maintenance and asset management platform, raised $150 million in a Series D backed by a long list of investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures. The financing boosted the San Francisco-based startup’s valuation to $2.5 billion.

5. Harmonic, $100M, AI: Harmonic, a developer of AI mathematical reasoning models, announced a $100 million Series B financing led by Kleiner Perkins. The round brings total funding to date for the 2-year-old, Palo Alto, California-based company to $175 million, per Crunchbase data.

6. Neuros Medical, $56M, neurostimulation: Neuros Medical, developer of an electrical nerve stimulation system used to treat chronic post-amputation pain, raised $56 million in a Series D round. EQT Life Sciences led the financing for the Aliso Viejo, California-based company.

7. ServiceUp, $55M, vehicle repair: Los Gatos, California-based ServiceUp, developer of a platform for fleet operators to manage repairs and maintenance, raised $55 million in a Series B round led by PeakSpan Capital.

8. Renasant Bio, $54.5M, biopharma: Renasant Bio launched with $54.5 million in seed funding to develop treatments for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. 5AM Ventures led the financing for the Berkeley, California-based startup.

9. (tied) Boston Metal, $51M, green steel: Green steel maker Boston Metal announced that it raised $51 million in a convertible note investment from existing investors including BHP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Piva Capital and SiteGround. The funds will be used in part for a metals plant in Brazil, slated to come online next year.

9.(tied) Spacelift, $51M, enterprise software: Redwood City, California-based Spacelift, developer of an infrastructure orchestration platform for enterprises, raised $51 million in Series C funding led by Five Elms Capital with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and Inovo.vc.

Methodology
We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of July 4-11. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Barrons : The Stock Market Has Bounced Back to New Highs. 55 Picks From Our Roun

The Stock Market Has Bounced Back to New Highs. 55 Picks From Our Roundtable Pros.
The challenges of the first half aren’t over, our 11 panelists say. Where they see opportunities for the second half of the year.

Top Stock Picks (with brief justification):
AMD – AI chip leader

Amazon – Cloud & retail growth

Alphabet (Google) – AI & search dominance

Meta Platforms – Advertising rebound

Microsoft – Cloud, AI potential

Berkshire Hathaway – Defensive compounder

Eli Lilly – Obesity drug boost

Novo Nordisk – Strong GLP-1 pipeline

Taiwan Semi (TSMC) – Foundry leader

Samsung – Memory chip recovery

Nvidia – AI GPU king

Visa – Global payments exposure

Mastercard – Strong pricing power

Schlumberger (SLB) – Oil services play

Freeport-McMoRan – Copper demand bet

Chevron – Energy value

Exxon Mobil – Steady cash flows

Shell – Dividend and value

JPMorgan Chase – Best-in-class bank

Bank of America – Rate upside

Morgan Stanley – Wealth management focus

Constellation Brands – Alcohol margin growth

Netflix – Ad-supported tier potential

Disney – Restructuring upside

Ferrari – Luxury performance

Baidu – Undervalued Chinese tech

Alibaba – E-commerce turnaround

BYD – EV leader in China

Stellantis – Cheap auto stock

Uber – Profitability inflection

Booking Holdings – Travel recovery

Airbnb – Global travel demand

American Tower – 5G tower growth

Equinix – Data center REIT

CrowdStrike – Cybersecurity growth

Palo Alto Networks – Cyber leader

Salesforce – Enterprise SaaS strength

ServiceNow – Workflow automation

Adobe – Design software moat

Intuit – Small biz solutions

Oracle – Cloud infrastructure pivot

ASML – EUV tech dominance

Arm Holdings – Chip IP model

Spotify – User growth potential

LVMH – Luxury global exposure

Hermès – High-margin luxury

L’Oréal – Beauty leadership

Heineken – Global beverage strength

Nestlé – Consumer staple stability

Unilever – Brand power

Procter & Gamble – Defensive giant

Coca-Cola – Consistent dividend

PepsiCo – Diversified beverages

Walmart – Retail giant

Costco – Membership model strength

Barrons : Venture Capital Firms Bet Big on Gambling. Now They’re Banking on the

Venture Capital Firms Bet Big on Gambling. Now They’re Banking on the Addictions.
U.S. VC firms have invested $2 billion in gambling businesses in recent years. At least six of the firms are simultaneously betting on problem gambling treatments.

Alumni Ventures got in early on the sports betting trend. In 2017, the New Hampshire–based venture-capital firm was part of an initial round of investment that raised $2 million for Sleeper, a fantasy sports and betting app. Four years later, Sleeper was valued at $400 million. This past August, Alumni made a new bet—this time on gambling addiction treatment, investing $1.5 million in Kindbridge Behavioral Health.

Alumni isn’t the only one getting in on the pair trade. Bettor Capital, a VC firm devoted entirely to gambling, invested in Kindbridge in March. In all, Barron’s identified six VC firms simultaneously invested in gambling and gambling treatment. Most didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The investment thesis is straightforward: As more people gamble, more will eventually develop a gambling problem and seek help. Venture-capital firms see the market for treatment growing in lockstep with the market for gambling.

Tracy Barba, director of the Lucas Institute for Venture Ethics at Santa Clara University, says the paired investments are a clear “conflict of interest” without historical precedent.

“Nobody’s telling them they can’t do this,” Barba says. “When there’s no regulation, no rules, and there’s no consequences or accountability, the only thing that is going to be driving their decision-making is internal revenue return.”

Boston-based Will Ventures has a stake in both Birches Health, a telehealth gambling treatment firm with an “empathetic online care model,” and a stake in BetHog, a crypto casino and sportsbook that calls itself “nakedly degen,” short for degenerate.

All told, U.S. VC firms have invested $2 billion in gambling businesses since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door to nationwide sports betting in 2018, according to PitchBook. As a business, treating problem gambling is still in its early stages, with VCs generally participating in so-called seed round funding for treatment firms.

As the gambling industry has realigned itself toward a younger audience that prefers virtual betting, treatment is becoming more tech-forward, too: Casinos and in-person therapy are out; smartphone bets and app-based recovery are in.

Half of American men under 50 have an account on a digital sportsbook, according to a Siena College survey. The Lancet, a medical journal, estimates that 8.9% of adult sports bettors could have a gambling disorder.


With the pool of gamblers growing, investors are doubling down on both betting and addiction treatment. General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm with $36 billion in assets, participated in Sleeper’s Series A, B, and C funding rounds, a spokesperson for General Catalyst confirmed.

More recently, the firm invested in a seed round for Birches. Reva Nohria, a partner at General Catalyst who sits on Birches’ board, said in an emailed statement that “as gambling becomes more accessible—both legally and digitally—we expect demand for treatment to rise in parallel.”

The Sleeper app has been downloaded 9.5 million times globally, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. More than a quarter of those downloads came last year, for a 25% year-over-year increase.

Birches has also grown quickly since it was founded in 2023. By the end of the year, the firm expects to have more than 300 counselors specializing in gambling disorders, the largest such network in the U.S., the company says.

As Barron’s has previously reported, there is no federal funding for problem gambling services, while state grants are often mired in red tape. States spent less than 1% of their gambling tax revenue on problem gambling in 2023, according to the National Association of Administrators for Disordered Gambling Services.

Business is stepping in to fill the gap. “Private-sector solutions to most problems tend to be more efficient,” says Nate Kline of Cistern Capital, a Birches investor that has limited its gambling investment to the treatment side of the equation.

Birches and Kindbridge have two advantages that most companies would envy: a growing customer base inside a historically underserved market.

“The rise in access to online gambling was not initially met with corresponding innovation in clinical treatment,” Birches CEO Elliott Rapaport told Barron’s in an email.

Cassie Puckett, a problem gambling counselor in Kentucky, says that in December she would typically see two patients a week through Birches. Now she sees eight to 10 a week. Birches says its providers completed 5,000 appointments last year and are on track to complete more than nine times that number in 2025.

“Telehealth is a much more scalable mental health solution,” says Kindbridge CEO Daniel Umfleet.

While venture capital’s dual-sided approach to gambling may concern ethicists, those on the ground advocating for problem gambling say they can use all the help they can get.

“On balance, it’s probably a good thing,” says Keith Whyte, who spent 26 years as executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

“I hope that there is a lot more investment in responsible gambling. I’m not as concerned about the reasons why,” Whyte says. “The market’s ripe. There’s an opportunity to do well by doing good.”

VC partners have embraced that view. “The reason I love venture capital as a field is because you can bring a lot of really positive things to market through good economics,” says Keaton Nankivil, the senior principal at Alumni Ventures who coordinated its investment into Kindbridge Behavioral Health.

“If Sleeper is gonna be in the world,” he says, “I also want to put out the balancing force.”

To Nankivil, that balancing force is also the better investment right now. “Whether I’m betting on FanDuel or Fanatics or DraftKings won’t matter,” he says. “What I do believe is you’re going to have a generation of people that are getting inundated with gambling and now need a solution for that.”

While Alumni’s investment in Sleeper predated Nankivil’s tenure at the firm, he recognizes the success of the original gambling investment. “The tension in venture capital is that we have that fiduciary responsibility,” he says. “And daily fantasy sports or gaming was a way to make money for our investors. It’s still a really positive investment for us.”

Those returns made investments in treatment possible, Nankivil says. “Without Sleeper and the like, there is no Kindbridge.”

A similar dynamic has played out in state legislatures, where problem gambling treatment doesn’t get approved without gambling expansions and the associated tax revenue.

“Very rarely does problem gambling legislation on its own succeed,” says Whyte, now president of consultancy firm Safer Gambling Strategies.

Whyte says there is opportunity in the mash-up of gambling and addiction treatment.

Sleeper has made an early connection with Birches. The two General Catalyst-backed firms have a partnership in which Birches is “providing virtual resources and care for Sleeper’s community.”

Gambling and gambling treatment firms may benefit from data-sharing opportunities, Whyte says. Treatment firms could help fine-tune the algorithms used by gambling operators to identify at-risk bettors.

He flags one worry: There need to be “strong safeguards in place to prevent, for example, a gambling company mining data from a gambling addiction firm to try and hook people who have gambling problems.”