SCMP : China’s next-gen surveillance tools get AI boost to target Telegram and V

China’s next-gen surveillance tools get AI boost to target Telegram and VPN users
Annual policing tech expo offers glimpse of law enforcement future as Beijing ramps up domestic security drive amid ‘lone wolf’ attacks

The future of policing in China will be powered by artificial intelligence surveillance tools that can monitor Telegram and VPN users, as well as DeepSeek-inspired models that can analyse leads for investigations, according to exhibitors at an annual policing expo in Beijing.
The surveillance equipment was showcased this week at the 12th China International Exhibition on Police Equipment, which ended on Saturday.

The event – the largest policing technology expo of its kind – offered police and defence equipment suppliers from across the country a chance to compete for orders from public security departments

The suppliers included research institutes affiliated with the Ministry of Public Security – the country’s top police agency – as well as various private companies.

AI technology was a key selling point for products at the expo, including surveillance tools, criminal investigation devices and drone-jamming equipment.
One of the technologies showcased was the “multidimensional intelligence analysis of individual extreme behaviour”, presented by the Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security.

China has faced security challenges in issuing early warnings for “individual extreme incidents”, according to the institute.

The institute has developed AI models to analyse shopping records, search histories, and social media posts to identify high-risk individuals.

The institute said the tool was developed based on the AI agent service by Chinese start-up Dify, an open-source large language model (LLM) application development platform.

Several “lone wolf” attacks over the past year have shocked the Chinese public. The worst attack happened in November, when a man named Fan Weiqiu drove an SUV into a crowd outside a sports centre in the southern city of Zhuhai, killing at least 35 people and injuring at least 43.
Fan was executed in January.

Since that attack, Beijing has repeatedly stressed the need to maintain social stability, urging local officials to identify people prone to carrying out such “extreme incidents”.
The official research institute also showcased AI-assisted mobile phone forensic tools and fugitive tracking systems.

Many manufacturers highlighted the security of police equipment as a key selling point.

One company claimed that its tool could monitor police equipment usage, particularly internet usage, to swiftly detect the “illegal publication, transmission, storage or processing of confidential information”, thereby “ensuring the confidentiality and security of state secrets and police work”.

Last year, Beijing made significant revisions to expand the scope of a law intended to protect state secrets.

Subsequent government regulations urged manufacturers to “utilise new technologies, methods and processes to innovate security and confidentiality products, as well as confidential technical equipment”.

The regulations, which came into effect in September, promised rewards for individuals and organisations that “contribute significantly” to the development of such technologies.

Confidentiality was also a theme at this year’s exhibition.

Visitors had to apply to attend the exhibition using a QR code. They were required to provide their real name and ID number, then go through a screening process before being permitted entry to the expo.

Many prospective buyers at the exhibition were wearing police uniforms, and some exhibitors required visitors to show their police ID before being allowed to photograph their products. In some cases, manuals were restricted to police officers for products that could only be bought by law enforcement agencies.

“Without cybersecurity, there is no national security” read a prominent slogan in the exhibition hall.
The Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security showcased a tool that it claimed could monitor Telegram, a widely used instant messaging app known for its privacy and security. It said the tool could monitor Telegram accounts registered with Chinese mobile phone numbers, which have strict real-name requirements.

To date, the tool has collected more than 30 billion messages and monitored 70 million Telegram accounts, as well as 390,000 public channels and groups, according to the institution.

A promotional video from the institution showed how drug transactions could be monitored in group chats by logging into Telegram with a hacked Chinese mobile phone number.

It also said that messages on Telegram involving topics related to politics and Hong Kong could be monitored. The institute cited the widespread use of Telegram by anti-government protesters in Hong Kong in 2019 as one of the reasons for developing the tool.

In mainland China, internet users have to use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access Telegram, as well as the website for the South China Morning Post. But a technology company from the eastern city of Nanjing showcased a tool capable of detecting such use.

Several other companies promoted large models for police use and emphasised their products were based on Chinese open-source models such as DeepSeek. They said these AI models could help the police analyse leads more effectively, manage devices, investigate crime scenes and interrogate suspects.

A Beijing-based company claimed that its AI tool could conduct real-time psychological tests on suspects to facilitate “intelligent interrogation” and swiftly “break through their psychological defences”.

Large tech companies such as Huawei, iFlyTek and Hikvision also promoted their AI models as being suitable for use in law enforcement scenarios.

WSJ : To Prove They Don’t Cheat With AI, Students Are Turning to…AI

To Prove They Don’t Cheat With AI, Students Are Turning to…AI
It’s a battle of the bots: Teachers use AI detection to spot cheating while students use it to maintain innocence

Students don’t want to be accused of cheating, so they’re using artificial intelligence to make sure their school essays sound human.

Teachers use AI-detection software to identify AI-generated work. Students, in turn, are pre-emptively running their original writing through the same tools, to see if anything might be flagged for sounding too robotic.

Miles Pulvers, a 21-year-old student at Northeastern University in Boston, says he never uses AI to write essays, but he runs all of them through an AI detector before submitting them.

“I take great pride in my writing,” says Pulvers. “Before AI, I had peace of mind that whatever I would submit would be accepted. Now I see some of my writing being flagged as possibly being AI-generated when it’s not. It’s kind of annoying, but it’s part of the deal in 2025.”

AI detectors might sound the alarm if writing contains too many adjectives, long sentences and em dashes—one of my own favorite forms of punctuation. When that happens to Pulvers, he rewrites the sentences or paragraphs in question. He tests the essay again, as often as needed until the detector says it has a low probability of bot involvement.

He and other students I interviewed say teachers in recent months have become more suspicious of students. That’s often for good reason: Many do use AI to cheat.

“They’re using AI to write their essays, and then they use AI detectors to humanize them,” says Leticia Villaseñor, a history teacher at a private Los Angeles high school, where she regularly uses an AI detector to catch cheaters. “I try to have my students do as many written assignments as possible in class, because if it’s homework, half of them will use AI.”

I’m not a robot
For students who swear they’re not having a chatbot write their essays, trying to prove their humanity has become a challenge.

Marcus Wooler, one of Villaseñor’s students, said some students are wrongly accused. A friend of his had to show a teacher his Google Doc history to clear himself. Wooler decided he should run his honestly crafted essays through an AI detector before submitting them. “It’s a good precaution,” says the 16-year-old.

Sometimes, it’s the students who use grammar-checking tools—or who learned to write more formally—who get dinged, says Devan Leos, co-founder of Undetectable AI, which makes a popular AI detector and “humanizer.” Some red flags include the use of unique words such as “delve” and “tapestry” and phrases like “valuable insight” and “crucial role.”

“It’s like you get penalized for being a proper writer,” Leos says.

Miles Pulvers, a Northeastern University student, runs his essays through AI detectors such as Undetectable AI. When his original writing is flagged as possibly written by AI, he rewrites it until it’s judged more likely human. Photo: Miles Pulvers
Harrison Checketts, a 16-year-old student who takes Villaseñor’s history class, says he once ran an English paper he wrote himself through five different AI detectors and they all showed different results. Some were highly confident that parts were written by AI; others said there was no chance a machine did it. He decided not to use AI detectors after that. “The teachers are the real AI detectors,” he says. “They can tell.”

Claire Krieger, a 20-year-old student at Fordham University in New York, runs all of her papers through AI detectors but says they can provide a false sense of security.

One of the tools she used for an English paper last year flagged some quotes she cited from a book, but that’s it. Her professor used a different AI detector, which flagged a sentence Krieger says she wrote. She met with her professor in person, explained that it wasn’t AI-generated and affirmed her commitment to academic integrity.

‘A police state’
The stakes for students accused of submitting AI-generated work are high. A University of North Georgia student was placed on academic probation last year after being accused of plagiarism. She told numerous media outlets that she used Grammarly, an AI writing assistant, to correct spelling and grammar mistakes—not to cheat. She also partnered with Grammarly to produce educational videos about how to use the tool for schoolwork.

The incident prompted Grammarly to create a new authorship tool. It tracks the writing process, showing where text is typed into a document or pasted, as well as which parts of a document are created or modified with AI. When the paper is complete, a report is generated, which students can show teachers if there is any question about the source of their work.

Jenny Maxwell, Grammarly’s head of education, says the fear around AI use in schools is causing students to spend a lot of extra time rewriting to sound more human. More than 500,000 people use Grammarly’s AI and plagiarism detection tool each week, and the majority are students, a spokeswoman says.

These days, Maxwell says, it’s a “police state of writing.”

FT : Does Moody’s US downgrade matter?

Does Moody’s US downgrade matter?
What a one-notch cut means for the market, the banks, and the White House

On Friday, Moody’s pulled the trigger and stripped the US’s of its last top rating — downgrading it one notch from Aaa to Aa1.

But does it matter?

We looked into the implications of a downgrade a couple of months ago, back when Moody’s still seemed determined to ignore the sixty-foot flashing neon signage writing on the wall.

From a stock market perspective, who knows? We have no clue whether, or how much, it will matter when trading opens on Monday. Sure, S&P’s US sovereign downgrade in August 2011 prompted the worst single day fall in US stock prices since the (admittedly then recent) global financial crisis. But the market quickly recovered. This may have been people freaked out about what the downgrade might mean to the financial plumbing.

So, does the downgrade matter to financial plumbers this time? From a mechanical perspective, the answer is almost certainly “not at all”.

Banks’ risk-weighted capital asset calculations look unlikely to be impacted by the rating change. This is because regulators don’t tend to differentiate between Aaa and Aa1 when setting capital risk-weights. For example, this is how the BIS sets out its standardised approach for credit risk as it applies to individual claims to calculate their risk-weighted assets in relation to sovereigns:

Moody’s could’ve done a three-notch downgrade — from Aaa all the way to Aa3 — and nothing would’ve changed on this front.

How about collateral management? A note from Barclays on Friday night looked at the implications:

For collateral purposes, a downgrade to Aa1 is also unlikely to have an effect. For instance, DTCC and CME refer to the asset class as US Treasuries and the haircut is a function of the maturity and security type (TIPS/FRNs) but not the ratings. At LCH, a downgrade to Aa1 is unlikely to lead to a change. For instance, USTs and Gilts have similar haircuts, even as the latter are rated lower.

Furthermore, they reckon that the move won’t trigger moves at the short end of the curve because:

Legislation since the financial crisis has reduced the use of explicit ratings guidelines in investment mandates.

So, they don’t expect waves of asset sales from the circa $4.5tn in Treasury and Treasury repo in money funds.

Moving away from financial markets, the downgrade may well matter to Moody’s themselves. If S&P Global Ratings’ experience in 2011 is anything to go by, the firm will be in for a rough ride. Following S&P’s downgrade more than a decade ago, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner threw a bit of a public wobbly, and filmmaker Michael Moore called on Obama to arrest the firm’s CEO. As we wrote in March:

Someone hired a plane to fly past their rating agency’s offices dragging a banner proclaiming that they should all be fired, and a bunch of local governments terminated their business with the firm.

Meanwhile, and apparently unrelatedly, the Justice Department launched an investigation into S&P. Within a few weeks, CEO Deven Sharma had left the company. When things moved from being just an investigation to an actual $5bn federal lawsuit for allegedly misleading banks about the credibility of its ratings before the 2008 financial crisis, S&P called this direct retaliation for its downgrade.

Following the downgrade, Moritz Kraemer — formerly Global Chief Rating Officer of Sovereign Ratings at S&P Global Ratings — wrote on LinkedIn that the danger of retribution was real:

In the US, the rating agencies are regulated and licensed by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). As things stand in America today, we must wonder, whether the SEC can act independently from the wishes of the White House. Remember that the previous SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, resigned on inauguration day, making way for a Trump acolyte. Will Trump be so enraged by the downgrade of the US (which he surely will take personal) that he will demand his pound of flesh and impose revenge on Moody’s.

We’ve already seen the White House dismiss the analysis, and lash out at Mark Zandi, Moody’s chief economist. Steven Cheung, assistant to the President, tweeted: “Nobody takes his ‘analysis’ seriously. He has been proven wrong time and time again.”

As reported in MainFT, Zandi was not an author of this report and works for Moody’s Analytics, a separate part of the company that is not part of its ratings business.

More generally, while a one-notch downgrade from Aaa may not have huge market implications it is still important.

Fiscally, Moody’s has long projected near-basket-case metrics for the United States. In reaffirming the Aaa rating back in March it wrote that the country’s Aaa rating leaned instead on the country’s “extraordinary economic strength and the unique and central roles of the dollar and Treasury bond market in global finance”.

And in its previous rating report reaffirming the Aaa rating back in November 2023, Moody’s wrote:

A weakening of institutions and governance strength, such as through deterioration in monetary and macroeconomic policy effectiveness or the quality of legislative and judicial institutions, could also strain the rating.

The world has moved on since 2023, and Moody’s is marking-to-market.

FT : The deal that has spurred Apollo’s plan to remake Wall Street

The deal that has spurred Apollo’s plan to remake Wall Street
Acquisition of securitised asset business from Credit Suisse has become a cornerstone of private asset group’s strategy

Volatile financial markets, like the ones we face now thanks to America’s ever evolving tariff policies, often create unique opportunities. Think back to what happened in October 2022, shortly after Credit Suisse launched a major business restructuring and the credit-rating agencies announced they were downgrading the Swiss bank’s debt, adding to the turmoil that was engulfing the then 166-year-old financial institution.

One of the immediate steps the bank took in response to the waning confidence in it was to accelerate the sale of the bulk of one of its crown jewels, the so-called securitised products group, a large asset-based lending business that created — or “originated”, in financial jargon — products such as mortgages and auto loans and sold them to investors.

The business was beloved inside Credit Suisse, and one of its most profitable. But sometimes the market forces you to do things you don’t want to do, and the sale of this business was one of those times.

As ever, the always opportunistic Apollo Global Management, the alternative asset manager, was only too happy to pounce on Credit Suisse’s growing financial distress. That is Apollo’s DNA. In short order,j before other, more highly regulated financial institutions could act, Apollo cut a deal with Credit Suisse to buy the New York-based business.

Apollo bought it all for a slight discount to the par value of the loan portfolio, according to one insider. It renamed the business Atlas SP and set it up as a separate unit, with Apollo as the majority owner and Mass Mutual, the big insurance company, and the sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as minority investors.

Since the deal closed in February 2023, Atlas SP has become the cornerstone of Apollo’s ambitious plan to remake Wall Street, through the market for private credit. “When you look back at really, really strategic transactions for this firm, that’s got to be up there,” Apollo president Jim Zelter told me in December, “because it really was a first massive foray of an origination business of that scale, owned by a non-bank.” He said he jokes with Marc Rowan, Apollo’s chief executive, that five years ago they didn’t even know how to spell Atlas.

Now, it’s central to the firm’s core strategy of increasing the amount of private credit that Apollo originates to generate the income-producing assets it needs to cover the liabilities generated by Athene, Apollo’s wholly owned annuity business. It captures the spread between the two as profit.

Of Apollo’s $785bn of assets under management, some $641bn is private credit, with the balance being private equity. Apollo has long preached that there is less risk in its business of the kind of deposit runs and loss of investor confidence seen by some banks because the duration of its assets and liabilities are both long-term and closely matched. The message is starting to get out. The company has a market value of $86bn, up more than 250 per cent in the past five years, although its stock was hit hard in the recent broader market turmoil. After a recent rally, it still down around 13 per cent so far in 2025.

Apollo originated some $220bn of assets in 2024 and has the ambition to raise that to $275bn in under five years. Atlas SP is the key to achieving that aspiration. It originated more than $40bn of assets last year with a goal to do $50bn this year. Atlas SP is one of the 16 loan-origination “platforms” that Apollo either owns or has a majority equity investment in but has a particular strategic importance. Atlas SP has 300 clients, and each of those borrowers is an originator of small loans itself, giving the business tentacles across a huge swath of American businesses.

In many ways, Apollo’s origination businesses, with Atlas at the centre, has helped fill part of the void the old GE Capital left after it was dismantled and sold off a decade ago. It now provides all sorts of loans for inventory and equipment, vehicles and fleets, mortgages, investment funds and for building out digital infrastructure. The Atlas deal, John Zito, Apollo’s co-president, told a Grant’s Interest Rate Observer investor conference a year ago, “will be looked at as probably the most innovative M&A transaction over the last five years”.

At the moment, the future is here, and it seems to be working just fine. The question is: Will there be a reckoning for private credit and, if so, when will it be, and what will cause it? In a May 2 Bloomberg interview, Robert O’Leary, the co-CEO of Oaktree Capital said some limited partners in private credit funds, anticipating a recession, have already started selling their stakes at discounts as large as 50 cents on the dollar, and it could get much worse, he said, if, and when, the real forced selling begins.

FT : French nuclear company Orano explores sale of Niger uranium assets

French nuclear company Orano explores sale of Niger uranium assets
Process to sell subsidiaries follows breakdown of ties with west African country’s military government

French state-owned nuclear fuel company Orano is exploring the sale of its uranium assets in Niger after the breakdown of its relationship with the west African country’s military rulers.

Orano operates three mines in Niger in a joint venture with the Russian-backed government that seized power in a coup two years ago, but was stripped of its rights over one project in June and forced to stop work at another soon after because of financial pressures.

It said at the time that Niger had blocked uranium exports and halted payments of its obligations as joint venture partners since the 2023 coup that toppled the country’s pro-western government.

This has forced Orano to look at a possible sale of its Niger assets, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The withdrawal of Orano would be the latest confirmation of the loss of French influence in the region and the failure of its “Françafrique” policy under which Paris sought to maintain influence in its former colonies. France has also withdrawn soldiers from Chad, Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years.

The sales process risks being politically fraught for the French government, which owns 90 per cent of the business, with Russian and Chinese buyers said to be circling the assets.

Orano in December said that it no longer controlled any of its subsidiaries in Niger and launched several international arbitration cases against the state. Orano also began legal proceedings against the junta after its offices were raided by Niger’s intelligence agency this month, leading to the arrest of a local company director.

Orano declined to comment on the sales process, saying it was focused on its arbitration cases. But in a statement to the Financial Times it said that “several parties have expressed their interests for the mining assets of the group in Niger and are at liberty to submit offers if they wish to”.

Curzon Uranium, part of the Curzon group of companies, is one of those seeking to buy the Niger assets, said its founder Nick Clarke.

“We need to find a peaceful solution to this that gets the product moving,” said Clarke, adding he was “actively engaged” with an unnamed Middle Eastern investor over a joint purchase, with Chinese and Russians buyers also rumoured. “It will be a competitive process,” he said.

Niger is a relatively small player in uranium, producing about 5 per cent of global output, but it plays an outsized role in France and supplies about a fifth of the country’s natural uranium.

Analysts have warned of a looming uranium supply crunch, as nations including China and the US look to deploy more nuclear. The radioactive metal is turned into the fuel used to power nuclear reactors.

Niger is part of the “coup belt” across west and central Africa where militaries have ousted a host of governments in recent years. Niger, alongside Burkina Faso and Mali, have all drawn closer to Russia at the expense of former colonial power France and the west.

Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have introduced new mining codes granting them access to a greater share of mining revenues and a larger stake for the governments. Niger’s government has been approached for comment.

SCMP : Hong Kong prepares for a grand homecoming as mainland firms face US delis

Hong Kong prepares for a grand homecoming as mainland firms face US delisting threats
Delisting pressure on US-listed companies from the mainland could be a jackpot for Hong Kong markets

A month ago, Patrick Tsang, the CEO of Deloitte China, learned that the US government had declined to rule out the possibility that Washington could delist Chinese stocks from American exchanges.

For Tsang, a long-time accountant who is also a member of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy unit, the delisting threat seemed like a golden opportunity for Hong Kong.
Around 286 mainland ­companies trading in the US came under threat of delisting after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in early April that “everything’s on the table”, as worries about decoupling emerged amid a US-China tariff war.

Tsang immediately rounded up a capital markets team at Deloitte to produce proposals on how Hong Kong could prepare for the situation.

Last week, he submitted a paper to the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit, outlining four major strategies to bolster Hong Kong’s financial preparedness, including simplifying listing procedures and finding funding for these companies.

“Even if China and the US reach an agreement on tariffs, the risk of delisting for many Chinese firms listed in the US persists,” Tsang said. “Delisting remains a tool in the ongoing US-China trade dispute.”

Tsang said Hong Kong must leverage its “one country, two systems” framework and its status as an international financial centre “to provide a safety net for US-listed mainland firms facing potential delisting”.

Zeekr, an electric-vehicle unit of Geely Auto, China’s second-largest carmaker, became the first mainland company after the trade war heated up to say it would delist from the US by going private, according to a May 7 exchange filing.
Tsang said some of Deloitte’s clients have started preparing for delisting.

“Some existing clients have planned to delist in the US and list in Hong Kong instead,” he said. “For the listing candidates, there are now fewer than 5 per cent who want to list in the US, compared with before when there were about 20 per cent who would like to list in the US.”

“Hong Kong is the market they want to come to raise funds and some investment banks have set up special teams to support these clients.”

Last month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po asked Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to prepare for the US-listed companies to come to Hong Kong.
“In response to the latest geopolitical changes, the government has directed HKEX and the SFC to be prepared to make Hong Kong the preferred listing destination for the return of [US-listed mainland stocks],” said Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu in a written interview.

Hui said the SFC and HKEX would push ahead with reforms, including reviewing listing requirements, improving vetting processes, optimising the thresholds for dual primary and secondary listings, as well as other matters.

“This comprehensive review aims to facilitate listing and fundraising of overseas enterprises and companies from emerging industries, the return of [US-listed mainland firms] as well as fundraising and development of mainland enterprises overseas,” Hui said.

HKEX chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing said the bourse operator was committed to facilitating the listing of high-quality firms in Hong Kong, including US-listed mainland companies.

“HKEX has an established framework for overseas-listed companies to seek a primary or secondary listing in Hong Kong, and we will continue to closely monitor global developments,” Tong told the Post.

Tong said the China Securities Regulatory Commission last week pledged to support “the homecoming” of mainland firms listed overseas.

“This development is encouraging, as we expect more companies to seek dual listings in Hong Kong, further strengthening the city’s position as a premier [IPO] and capital markets hub,” Tong said.

In 2018, HKEX introduced reforms to allow pre-revenue biotechnology firms and companies with different share classes to list in the city.

Since then, some 360 new-economy firms have raised HK$1.03 trillion (US$133 billion) in Hong Kong via initial public offerings, including 33 US-listed mainland firms seeking dual primary or secondary listings, according to HKEX data.

These reforms made listings possible for mainland smartphone maker Xiaomi and online food delivery platform Meituan – which have multiple share classes – and Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the Post.

In 2023, HKEX introduced the Chapter 18C listing rule, allowing specialist technology firms with little to no revenue to list. Subsequently, three firms have raised a total of HK$2.9 billion, according to HKEX data.

A total of 33 firms trading in the US and Hong Kong are heavyweights, as they account for 70 per cent of the total market capitalisation of all US-listed mainland firms, HKEX data showed.

“The focus is now on how to attract the others … interested in being listed in Hong Kong to list here,” said Joseph Chan Ho-lim, the undersecretary for financial services and the treasury, in a Legislative Council meeting on May 7.

E-commerce platform operator PDD Holdings and ­brokerage Futu Holdings were among 27 US-listed mainland firms that met Hong Kong listing ­requirements, while at least 170 others may be at risk of exiting the US, Goldman Sachs said in a report last month.

“HKEX’s many listing reforms in recent years have enhanced the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a listing venue for new-economy and biotechnology companies, while the increased market turnover this year also helps attract these US-listed mainland firms,” said John Lee Chen-kwok, vice-chairman and co-head of Asia coverage for global banking at UBS.

In the first four months of this year, daily trading turnover in the city surged 144 per cent from a year earlier to HK$250.4 billion, thanks in part to a rally that came after artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek’s low-cost, high-performance large language models captured global attention.

Fifteen companies raised US$2.3 billion from IPOs in the first three months of 2025, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. That was the best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2021 when proceeds totalled US$11.5 billion.

Chan Ka-keung, the chairman of digital lender WeLab Bank and Hong Kong’s former secretary for financial services and the treasury, said recent US regulations have helped drive start-ups to come to Hong Kong.

“Traditionally, most start-ups like to list in the US for its simple regulations, high valuation, and deep liquidity,” he said. “But the introduction of US regulations in recent years and the latest threat of delistings have reduced the attractiveness of the US market.”

“What Trump’s administration is doing is, in fact, good for Hong Kong’s IPO market.”

During Donald Trump’s first term as US president, he introduced the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act in December 2020. It required foreign companies to fall in line with audit inspection rules or face expulsion from US exchanges after three consecutive years of non-compliance.

This led to a wave of US-listed mainland firms, including JD.com and NetEase, to seek primary or secondary listings in Hong Kong. In 2022, the US and China reached an agreement on audit inspections in the city.

“The renewal of the threat of delisting has led many firms to reconsider listing in Hong Kong again so their shares can continue to be traded by international investors,” WeLab’s Chan said.

“I believe the US only uses the delisting threat as a tool of negotiation for trade deals, but the threat itself is already enough to help Hong Kong get more new listings.”

He also said the Chapter 18C listing rule has provided flexibility for start-ups to list, while the DeepSeek breakthrough attracted international investors to chase tech stocks in Hong Kong.

But David Chang, the founder and CEO of MindWorks, a venture capital firm focused on start-ups, said Hong Kong needs to speed up its approval process if it wants to attract more listings.

“Hong Kong’s listing process is still perceived as slower and more rigid compared to the US,” Chang said. “Additionally, valuation multiples in Hong Kong are generally lower, especially in the tech and consumer sectors, which can deter companies from relisting unless compelled by US delisting risks.”

Hong Kong’s current price-to-earnings ratio stood at 12.97 times, similar to Shanghai’s main board at 12.78, though it was much lower than 25.6 times for the Nasdaq.

But Chang said the recent tension has led many consumer and fintech companies to prepare for Hong Kong listings.

“Start-up founders still value the prestige and depth of US capital markets, but [they] now weigh geopolitical risks more seriously,” Chang said.

The proposals from Tsang, of Deloitte China, to the policy unit advising Chief Executive Lee spelled out how Hong Kong could persuade US-listed mainland companies to list in Hong Kong.

“It is important for the stock exchange to make it easy and quick for the many US-listed companies that have a secondary listing status in Hong Kong to upgrade to become primary listings,” Tsang said.

“For the other US-listed mainland firms that have not yet listed in Hong Kong, the HKEX should promise to approve their listing application within 30 days, the same timeline for mainland-listed companies seeking a listing in the city.”

The government should also consider making funds available to help mainland companies to delist from the US and relist in Hong Kong, Tsang said.

“If the government took the lead, it would encourage other sovereign funds in the Middle East or Asia to invest in these companies,” he said. “It would help them list with a better valuation.”

Hui, the financial services and the treasury secretary, said the city has worked hard to expand its sources of investment.

“With regard to new markets and new investors, we will continue to open up new foreign capital sources,” Hui said, adding that HKEX has added 20 overseas exchanges to its list of recognised partners, meaning the listed companies on these bourses could easily apply to come to Hong Kong.

“In addition, the chief executive of Hong Kong has led Hong Kong business delegations to visit the Middle East and Asean countries a few times, which promotes Hong Kong’s securities market and fundraising platform to overseas enterprises, Hui said.

Cusson Leung, chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based financial firm KGI, said the city has explored different potential investor pools, including other parts of Asia and the Middle East.

“The attraction of foreign funding to the local stock market is not just relying on the promotion of the local capital market,” he said. “The quality and prospects of the listed companies are the most important factors to attract capital.”

Market sentiment also plays a role, according to Alex Yan, managing director and head of investment banking at GF Securities (Hong Kong).

“Negative perceptions of Chinese equities, fuelled by economic slowdown fears or tariff threats, can suppress valuations in the US,” Yan said. “As a result, many firms are turning to Hong Kong, where the Stock Connect programme and growing mainland investor base offer a compelling alternative.”

SCMP : Chinese defence scientists seek to turn old rocket artillery into plane-k

Chinese defence scientists seek to turn old rocket artillery into plane-killing glider
Technological upgrades to make rocket artillery capable of striking aerial targets may rewrite the rules of warfare

The Chinese military marked the world’s first recorded use of rockets in combat nearly eight centuries ago, when they deployed fire arrows and possibly gunpowder-launched grenades against Mongol invaders in the Battle of Kaifung-fu in 1232, according to Nasa.
Today, Chinese scientists and engineers are pursuing technological upgrades to transform the affordable, mass-producible traditional rocket artillery into a system capable of striking aerial targets.

A research team led by professor Zhang Shifeng at the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Aerospace Science and Engineering has developed a small rocket named Tianxing-1 or “Sky Star-1”.

Unlike conventional rocket artillery, this guided munition features lift-enhancing wings and adjustable tail fins for extended range and powerless-flight manoeuvrability.

Launched at an angle from ground-based platforms, the rocket rises to a designated altitude before transitioning into a glide phase, where it autonomously adjusts its trajectory to engage targets.
The Tianxing-1 operates on principles similar to hypersonic glide missiles, but travels at a far slower pace. Its maximum speed of 200 metres (656 feet) per second, or just over half the speed of sound, may see it struggle to chase high-speed aircraft or drones.

But it can lie in wait for the enemy – in large numbers if necessary – with its low cost and high-precision manoeuvrability offering extra advantages.

Zhang’s team has developed a novel guidance algorithm, slashing targeting errors from 50 metres to under one metre while enabling multi-angle attack profiles.

Some military experts say that mass deployment of such rockets could significantly boost the Chinese military’s area denial capabilities.

Published in the April issue of the Journal of National University of Defence Technology, the study highlights the challenges of guiding unpowered, low-speed gliders to hit “targets in the air”.

These munitions must rely on natural lift for extended flight and sharp manoeuvres in dynamic environments. Traditional algorithms have been proved inadequate, while AI-driven solutions – though precise – require costly computational hardware.

Zhang’s team overcame this by refining classical guidance equations with six new empirical parameters, achieving precision through streamlined calculations validated via hardware-in-the-loop simulations.

However, the technology cannot be used immediately for weapon development.

The published algorithm, for instance, was limited to striking stationary aerial targets. And the performance metrics of the Tianxing-1, initially designed as a training tool, differ vastly from operational weapons.

However, a successor – Tianxing-2 – has completed successful tests at a military base in northwestern China, according to an article on the defence university website dated August 9, 2022.

An upgraded integrated navigation system and other innovations have been able to “drastically reduce targeting trajectory deviations”, according to the article, which did not reveal the nature of the weapon.

WWD : How This 30-Year-Old Shoe Became the Hottest Sneaker of the Summer

How This 30-Year-Old Shoe Became the Hottest Sneaker of the Summer
From key collaborations to an acclaimed OG Big Bubble remaster, the Nike Air Max 95's enduring popularity carries on.



To the untrained eye, it may be easy to overlook. But once the sneaker’s plumped-up Air bubble is noticed, it can’t be unseen.

It’s safe to say Nike, Inc.’s Sportswear division got it right with the Air Max 95 OG “Big Bubble,” released this year in celebration of the seminal sneaker’s 30th anniversary. From the model’s original Neon makeup to a special release in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art inspired by designer Sergio Lozano’s early sketch, the 2025 variation of the Air Max 95 has occupied headlines, flown off of retailer shelves and perhaps most crucially, has been well received by experts. Industry figures and longtime connoisseurs have championed the changes made to the shoe, agreeing that the modifications not only look better than the Air Max 95’s post-2000s reissues, but feel more comfortable on foot.

Nike has had numerous wins with new sneakers this year; the Pegasus Premium is a high-performance runner with loads of off-road appeal, A’ja Wilson’s A’One just launched and is already one of the most celebrated basketball sneakers on the market and the Air Max Dn8 has even managed to win over some detractors of its predecessor, the Air Max Dn. And yet, despite these feats in innovation, one of the brand’s most talked-about sneakers in ’25 has been a shoe that was released three whole decades prior.

“The [Air Max 95] really looked and felt like the future when it came out, and that’s also part of what helps it stay relevant now,” Ben Solomon, a New York-based artist and filmmaker who recently created a MoMA-commissioned short film about the sneaker’s legacy, tells WWD. “It is the best example of a design capturing the feeling of an era. It felt like Nike cracked the code when you started seeing it in the world. That is what a sneaker is supposed to look like.”

Sleek yet sturdy, tastefully colorful and instantly recognizable, Lozano’s design was famously inspired by human anatomy. The Air Max 95’s soft mesh and synthetic suede uppers are emblematic of muscle fibers. The shoe’s unique speed-lace loops, which are often highlighted in a bright hue, were intended to be rib-like in their structure. Lozano even considered the outsole on the bottom of the shoe, which features a segmented pattern akin to a spine.
Designer Sergio Lozano’s inspiration for the Air Max 95 was human anatomy.
Nike
Then there’s the shoe’s key selling point: its Air bubbles. While Nike’s visible Air technology has ballooned into full-length, 360-degree units in the decades since, the 1995 Air Max installment broke ground by introducing a visible Air pocket to the forefoot of a running shoe for the first time.

This first-of-its-kind cushioning helped make Air Max 95 even more cutting edge, yet it never truly caught on as a performance running shoe. While it was originally billed as a runner, it’s far more common to see the Air Max 95 styled with denim, graphic T-shirts and tracksuits. Beloved worldwide, the shoe is particularly known for being a street style staple up and down the U.S.’s east coast and in Japan and the UK.

James Whitner, founder of The Whitaker Group, whose A Ma Maniére entity recently collaborated with Nike on two special-edition versions of the Air Max 95 and was one of a handful of retailers selected to stock the ’25 Neon reissue, remembers the sneaker catching on immediately.


“For me personally, the 95 was the OG, it transcended performance right out the gate. Yeah, it was technically a running shoe, but nobody I knew was lacing those up to go jog. It was about the look, the presence. The Air Max 95 helped shape what we now think of as Air Max culture, especially in the Black community. From the moment it dropped, it had that energy. It was bold, expensive, hard to get. So if you had a pair, it said something. I still think that shoe is part of the ‘look’ for certain people. It became a statement, and honestly, it never really stopped being one,” Whitner tells WWD.
The original 1995 Nike Air Max 95 “Neon” (top) compared to a 2020 reissue with smaller Air bubbles.
Nike
As the Air Max 95’s popularity surged, Nike quietly introduced modifications to the model’s build around the 2000s. The silhouette of the shoe began to look different, largely due to a steady shrinking of its signature Air bubbles.

These sorts of adjustments are common industry wide with retro footwear; factories, materials, and methods are constantly shifting, which makes it unrealistic to expect every sneaker rerelease to be a one-to-one match with the original. However, with the Air Max 95, the tweaks had become so pronounced over time that it earned a reputation for being somewhat of an uncomfortable sneaker which, for purists, also didn’t look quite like the design they had come to know.

For the Air Max 95’s 30th anniversary, Nike Sportswear delved into its archives with the intention of reengineering the sneaker to more closely match the look and feel of the ’95 original. Similar to the treatment given to the Air Max 1 ’86 OG Big Bubble in 2023, the ’25 version of the Air Max 95 features noticeably larger Air units and a retooled shape which bring the shoe as close as its been to its original form since the early 2000s. The updates themselves are rather technical and may not do much to excite a layperson, but the brand’s efforts have been well received by those in the know.
The 2025 Nike Air Max 95 OG Big Bubble “Neon” reissue.

“I appreciate what Nike did with the Big Bubble, it shows a willingness to revisit the roots and bring something full circle,” Whitner said. “This version gives people a peek behind the curtain, almost like a director’s cut of the original. It invites deeper appreciation from both the old heads who remember the first wave and the new generation just now discovering it. For me, it’s a reminder that timeless design can always be reimagined, as long as the intention is pure.”


In April, shortly after the arrival of the Air Max 95 OG Big Bubble, Kith founder Ronnie Fieg gave the reissue a glowing review. “After comparing this year’s retro to the original from ’95, they really brought back the original shape and last from that era,” Fieg wrote on X. “And even though some people say the big bubble isn’t that noticeable, it actually makes a huge difference when wearing, both visibly and physically…Big win for Nike here.”

Along with this year’s Big Bubble release, recent collaborations have helped bring new interest to the Air Max 95. Along with the aforementioned A Ma Maniére two-pack, London-based streetwear label Corteiz released three highly coveted special makeups of the model in ’23 followed by a fourth in April.
A Ma Maniére’s “Hand Wash Cold” Nike Air Max 95 collaboration.
A Ma Maniére

“What made it really special was the opportunity to bridge generations,” Whitner said of A Ma Maniére’s work on the sneaker. “For those of us who were there when the 95 first dropped, it’s a deeply nostalgic shoe. But for today’s youth, this may be their first real connection to it. Being able to reintroduce the silhouette in a way that resonates now, that’s the kind of work we live for.”

Nike typically doesn’t announce sales figures for individual sneakers, and the limited quantities of Air Max 95 OG Big Bubble releases thus far may not make enough of a sales impact to be singled out in an upcoming earnings report, but the reception to the brand’s latest remaster has been undeniable.

To Solomon, the recipe for the Air Max 95’s latest success isn’t solely the Big Bubble campaign or a string of collaborations, but its authenticity.
“People are excited for sneakers that have their own history to discover as opposed to something lifted from a marketing brief and sold back to them as ‘storytelling,’” the filmmaker said.

WWD : New Balance Brings More Cushioning to Its FuelCell Rebel v5 Daily Trainer

New Balance Brings More Cushioning to Its FuelCell Rebel v5 Daily Trainer
The running shoe will debut in June in limited quantities.

New Balance will launch the FuelCell Rebel v5 with a limited-edition "Urgent Red" colorway in June.

New Balance has announced the launch of its FuelCell Rebel v5, the latest iteration of its high-end daily trainer.

The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 packs more cushioning underfoot and brings a more aggressive look through its upper. A FuelCell midsole makes use of a blend of PEBA and EVA foam, and the outsole has been redesigned to put more rubber at the forefoot. Up top, the gusseted tongue and heel have been revamped for additional comfort, and the engineered mesh upper utilizes FantomFit tech for security.

Weight comes in slightly higher for the FuelCell Rebel v5, as a men’s size 9.5 weighs 7.9 ounces (or 225 grams) compared to 7.5 ounces (212 grams) on the FuelCell Rebel v4. A 35mm heel stach height drops to 29mm at the forefoot


Living true to its name, spiky lines sweep backward and are emphasized in a limited-edition red and black colorway that will ring in the running shoe’s launch.

“The mantra ‘look fast, run fast’ guided our design process, ensuring that the FuelCell Rebel v5 not only looks dynamic but also enhances your running experience,” Andrew Nyssen, New Balance design director of performance running, said in a press release. “We made intelligent tweaks to geometries and stack heights, resulting in a snappier ride without compromising on comfort.”

New Balance’s FuelCell Rebel line, which began in 2019, is one of the more versatile in its running slate. It’s suited for daily training and tempo runs but could also serve as a budget race day choice.

The New Balance FuelCell will release in its “Urgent Red” colorway June 5 through New Balance’s website. A wider release in a second colorway will then come July 1. Pricing is set at $140.

TechCrunch : OpenAI’s planned data center in Abu Dhabi would be bigger than Mona

OpenAI’s planned data center in Abu Dhabi would be bigger than Monaco

OpenAI is poised to help develop a staggering 5-gigawatt data center campus in Abu Dhabi, positioning the company as a primary anchor tenant in what could become one of the world’s largest AI infrastructure projects, according to a new Bloomberg report.

The facility would reportedly span an astonishing 10 square miles and consume power equivalent to five nuclear reactors, dwarfing any existing AI infrastructure announced by OpenAI or its competitors. (OpenAI has not yet returned TechCrunch’s request for comment, but to put that into perspective, that’s bigger than Monaco.)

The UAE project, developed in partnership with G42 — an Abu Dhabi-based tech conglomerate — is part of OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate project, a joint venture announced in January that could see OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle build massive data centers around the globe stocked with powerful computer chips to support AI development.

While OpenAI’s first Stargate campus in the U.S. — already under development in Abilene, Texas — is expected to reach 1.2 gigawatts, this Middle Eastern counterpart would more than quadruple that capacity.

The project is emerging amid broader AI ties between the U.S. and UAE that have been years in the making, and have made some lawmakers nervous.

OpenAI’s relationship with the UAE dates back to a 2023 partnership with G42 aimed at driving AI adoption in the Middle East. During a talk earlier that same year in Abu Dhabi, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the UAE, saying it “has been talking about AI since before it was cool.”

As with much of the AI world, these relationships are… complicated. Founded in 2018, G42 is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor and younger brother of the country’s ruler. Its embrace by OpenAI raised concerns in late 2023 among U.S. officials, who feared that G42 could enable China’s government to gain access to advanced U.S. technology.

These concerns focused on G42’s “active relationships” with blacklisted entities, including Huawei and Beijing Genomics Institute, as well as ties to individuals connected to China’s intelligence efforts.

Following pressure from U.S. lawmakers, G42’s CEO told Bloomberg in early 2024 that the company was shifting its strategy, saying: “All of our China investments that were previously made are already divested. Because of that, of course, we have no need anymore for any physical China presence.”

Soon after, Microsoft — a major shareholder in OpenAI with its own broader interests in the region — announced a $1.5 billion investment in G42, and its president, Brad Smith, joined G42’s board of directors.