Themes that move Asia Pacific equities across markets: a weekly AI digest, monthly China game approvals for Tencent and NetEase, and a weekly APAC ECM roundup.
Anthropic's third-quarter revenue rose 45% on the quarter to USD 16.8bn, slower than in Q2, and some pre-IPO investors reportedly discussed a USD 1.5T valuation, below the USD 2T it sought in September. Meta released Muse Wonder and the open-weight Muse Spark Open, SpaceXAI's Grok Voice 3.0 topped a speech benchmark, and TSMC and ASML raised their 2026 outlooks. China proposed export controls on AI models and computing clusters, CoreWeave's credit-risk gauge hit a record, DeepSeek's round reached about CNY 100bn and Tencent sold USD 5.7bn of bonds.
Anthropic launched Claude Haiku 5.5 at up to 90% lower prices, Reflection AI unveiled its Beam open-weight model, and OpenAI's annualized revenue was below recent estimates. OpenAI rolled GPT-6 out across ChatGPT, AWS added Zhipu's GLM-5.3 to Bedrock, TSMC's third-quarter revenue rose 50.9% YoY and Samsung guided record operating profit. DeepSeek neared USD 12bn of new funding, Moonshot closed at about USD 50bn, Firmus withdrew its ASX IPO and SpaceX sought about USD 40bn of debt for Nvidia chips.
Firmus pulled its USD 5.5bn ASX IPO. AS Watson's USD 30bn dual listing was reportedly delayed to 2027, and Moonshot reportedly eyes an HK IPO of up to USD 5bn. ESWIN, the week's only HK listing, raised USD 319m and fell 1.0% on day one. Eight listings in the past month have a median return of -2.5% since IPO. On HKEX, one company filed an AP and three posted PHIPs. Transsion's USD 428m A+H IPO lists on 15 Oct.
OpenAI, Anthropic and Google released frontier models, while OpenAI cancelled GPT-6.1 Astra after safety tests and the FTC opened a probe into AI-agent safety. Anthropic's IPO prospectus showed Q2 revenue of USD 11.5bn, OpenAI sought at least USD 30bn at a USD 1.4tn valuation, and Meta launched an enterprise AI platform. Amazon explored moving USD 8bn of Nvidia chips into a leaseback vehicle, AMD agreed to buy World Labs for USD 8.2bn, and Firmus priced its ASX IPO.
China announced game approval for the September batch. The number of games approved is higher than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval is above its pre-tightening level of August 2020 to July 2021. Of the companies that we are monitoring, none got approval.
Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Xiaomi and Stepfun all shipped model updates, with price cuts and open weights at the center of the week. AI infrastructure financing stayed active across Akamai, Nscale, Firmus, Oracle-linked data centers, CoreWeave facilities and SoftBank debt. Regulatory and security news focused on Pentagon supply-chain controls, OpenAI evaluation incidents and US review before UK model testing.
OpenAI's private funding and burn disclosures reset IPO timing, while Anthropic added Nasdaq, profitability and revenue markers ahead of listing. China labs shipped faster domestic-chip inference, cheaper multimodal pricing, coding-agent tools and Kimi distribution on AWS Bedrock. AI infrastructure financing stayed active across data centers, power equipment, custom chips, memory and startup funding.
DeepSeek released V4.1-Flash and hired underwriters for a Shanghai IPO. US agencies and Anthropic separately accused Chinese labs of extracting US model outputs. OpenAI published a proposed Navier-Stokes proof and opened its Agents API beta. Xiaomi introduced MiMo Desktop for invited users. Zhipu proposed USD 5bn of financing. Cognition announced a larger USD 2bn round, while Nvidia discussed an Anthropic IPO anchor investment.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: OpenAI and Anthropic refreshed frontier models while Moonshot started its Hong Kong IPO process. MiniMax powered HUMAIN's Arabic sovereign model, Alibaba refreshed Qwen, and Artificial Analysis kept new US frontier releases at the top of the ranking. Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face, Anthropic expanded compute financing, and AI infrastructure demand flowed through hyperscalers, hardware vendors, chips and memory.
China announced game approval for the August batch. The number of games approved remained at a higher level than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval appears to have accelerated to the same level as pre-tightening. None of the companies that we are monitoring got approval.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and deals this week: Zhipu identified Ox Alpha, OpenAI showed Jalapeno, and Nvidia pursued Hugging Face. China labs added Qwen, Tencent Hunyuan and Doubao updates, while DeepSeek changed weekend pricing and MiniMax and SenseTime reported results. Hyperscaler movements covered Nscale, Amazon, Lambda, Volta, Iren, MTN and Yotta. OpenRouter still showed Anthropic ahead in revenue share.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Ox Alpha appeared on OpenRouter and Stripe agreed to buy OpenRouter. DeepSeek added vision to V4 Flash, OpenAI paused Astra RL work, and Alibaba and Baidu reported faster AI-linked growth. YMTC moved toward a Shanghai IPO, Nvidia backed OpenAI capacity, and Anthropic added IPO banks and credit capacity.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and funding this week: DeepSeek raised V4 pricing, while Anthropic showed profit before listing. China labs pushed pricing, agents, and device subscriptions; US labs added OpenAI Ultrafast, Gemini Flash, Meta Glimmer, and Grok releases. Nvidia lined up financing platforms, Anthropic signed compute capacity, DayOne filed for a US IPO, and OpenRouter revenue shifted toward Anthropic.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: MiniMax H3 topped video editing while DeepSeek moved toward higher API pricing. China labs stayed active: Alibaba launched Qwen3.8-Max, Tencent expanded Hy3, ByteDance accepted a frontier gap, and Kimi K3 escaped a test sandbox. Infrastructure and financing stayed heavy: memory makers expanded capacity, CoreWeave and Microsoft added data centers, and Switch filed for a US IPO.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week as OpenAI cut Luna pricing and Chinese models kept cost pressure visible. Zhipu returned GLM Coding Plan at higher prices. DeepSeek V4 Flash, Kimi K3 and MiniMax H3 carried the model-launch week. Anthropic logged safety incidents and open-weight policy. Nvidia backed SSI and discussed OpenAI data-center financing.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Anthropic launched Opus 5, Moonshot moved toward pre-IPO funding, and Alibaba shipped Qwen3.8. China coverage grouped Qwen3.8, Kimi funding, Zhipu compute and SenseTime capacity, with policy items separated into MOFCOM and MIIT updates. Infrastructure and funding updates covered AMD, Nvidia, TSMC, Atoms, Mistral, Etched, 01.AI, PsiBot and GigaAI.
China announced game approval for the July batch. The number of games approved remained at a higher level than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval appears to have accelerated to the same level as pre-tightening. Of the companies that we are monitoring, Netease got 1 approval.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure and M&A this week, led by Kimi K3, Grok 4.5 and new financing plans from DeepSeek. China approved Apple Intelligence, while Zhipu expanded sales and Tencent released smaller Hunyuan Hy3 variants. Anthropic prepared for an IPO, TSMC raised capital spending, and Databricks, Helsing and Fireworks AI announced new funding.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: GPT-5.6 launched below Fable 5's price, and Chinese labs completed major post-lockup placements. Tencent open-sourced Hy3, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Work and GPT-Live, Anthropic moved Cowork to the cloud, and SpaceXAI released Grok 4.5. SK Hynix completed its Nasdaq IPO, Tencent-led investors pursued Manus, and Nvidia backed Firmus. SambaNova and Prime Intellect raised fresh capital.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week as Fable 5 returned while GPT-5.6 remained a restricted preview. Meta's reported compute-sale plan hit memory stocks, and Microsoft launched an internal enterprise AI deployment unit. Kuaishou raised for Kling AI, Baidu's Kunlunxin targeted an HK IPO, and OpenRouter revenue stayed Anthropic-led.
China announced game approval for the June batch. The number of games approved remained at a higher level than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval appears to have accelerated to the same level as pre-tightening. Of the companies that we are monitoring, Tencent got 1 approval.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Fable 5 launched, then Anthropic suspended foreign access after a jailbreak claim. China labs answered with GLM-5.2, Kimi K2.7-Code, MiniMax M3, Tencent's WeChat AI beta, and Xiaomi developer tools. Moonshot sought a $30bn valuation, Mistral pursued funding, and OpenRouter showed 44.7T weekly tokens with Anthropic leading estimated revenue.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Anthropic filed for IPO while Alphabet and Meta moved AI capex toward equity markets. MiniMax launched M3 at low-cost GPT-5.5 comps, while Tencent, Alibaba, and Moonshot pushed China agent and multimodal products. Nvidia moved Vera Rubin into production, US export rules tightened chip access, and DeepSeek prepared its first external funding round.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Anthropic paired its Series H with Opus 4.8, while MiniMax pushed A-share plans. MiniMax disclosed USD 300m ARR, previewed M3, and started CITIC Securities counselling. Xiaomi cut API pricing to match DeepSeek. OpenRouter data showed Anthropic revenue dominance even as DeepSeek and Tencent topped token usage, while Cognition and Fireworks extended private-market comps.
China announced game approval for the May batch. The number of games approved remained at a higher level than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval appears to have accelerated to the same level as pre-tightening. Of the companies that we are monitoring, Netease and ByteDance got a total of 2 approvals.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: OpenAI filed for IPO, Anthropic projected first profit, and Nvidia reported earnings. Google launched Gemini 3.5 Flash, Alibaba launched Qwen3.7-Max, and Zhipu disclosed ZCube with GLM-5.1-highspeed. Anthropic lined up funding and compute, Google hired Contextual AI researchers, and Moonshot prepared a Hong Kong IPO structure.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Zhipu GLM-5.1 inside Claude Code took the open-source #1 spot on Artificial Analysis's Coding Agent Index. Ramp's April US enterprise data showed Anthropic at 34.4% versus OpenAI at 32.3%, the first crossover, against the backdrop of Anthropic's reported $30bn raise at $900bn pre-money. The US cleared 10 Chinese hyperscalers to buy up to 75,000 H200 GPUs each, but Beijing paused orders for Huawei substitution; DeepSeek's round grew to $7.35bn at up to $50bn.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Anthropic crossed $30bn ARR above OpenAI for the first time; both labs launched competing enterprise deployment joint ventures. OpenAI launched GPT-5.5 Instant as ChatGPT's default model and opened its self-serve Ads Manager; ByteDance began Doubao paid subscription testing at up to $69 per month. China's state fund is in talks to lead DeepSeek's first external round at a $50bn valuation; Cerebras Systems filed an amended S-1 targeting a $26.6bn IPO.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: China blocked Meta's $2bn Manus deal; Anthropic weighs a $900bn fundraise. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta all raised full-year capex guidance in Q1 earnings; OpenAI ended Microsoft exclusivity and launched on Amazon Bedrock. DeepSeek cut API prices and Huawei Ascend chip orders surged across Chinese tech firms; China opensource trend continues.
China announced game approval for the April batch. The number of games approved remained at a higher level than in 2023 and 2024. The pace of China game approval appears to have accelerated to the same level as pre-tightening. Of the companies that we are monitoring, Tencent and Netease got a total of 2 approvals.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: OpenAI launched GPT-5.5, Anthropic took anchor commitments from Amazon and Google, and DeepSeek released V4 Preview. Moonshot shipped Kimi K2.6, Alibaba split Qwen into a closed Max tier and open dense 27B, Tencent released Hy3 Preview, Xiaomi launched MiMo-V2.5. SpaceX took a purchase option on Cursor, Tencent and Alibaba opened DeepSeek's first external round, and NDRC curbed US capital into Chinese AI.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and capital markets this week: a leaked OpenAI memo reopens the Anthropic-vs-OpenAI revenue debate ahead of both listings. Claude Opus 4.7 shipped and continues Opus 4.6's top SWE-bench Pro position, with a silent API price lift via a new tokenizer; OpenAI lost three senior executives. Cerebras filed publicly for a Nasdaq IPO; DeepSeek opened its first external fundraise; SenseTime placed HK$32bn; Stepfun restructured to list in Hong Kong.
We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A this week: Anthropic withheld Claude Mythos from public release and launched a 12-partner cybersecurity consortium. Zhipu's GLM-5V-Turbo achieved SWE-Bench Pro SOTA on Huawei Ascend chips; DeepSeek targets late-April V4 launch on domestic silicon. Broadcom secured a $21bn/$42bn custom TPU deal with Google and Anthropic; Cerebras targets $22-25bn Nasdaq IPO.
OpenAI closed a record private capital raise anchored by major technology and financial backers, as user and revenue metrics continue to scale. Zhipu AI's cloud API segment posted sharp margin expansion on strong volume growth, a rare profitability signal from China's listed AI sector. Alibaba's latest closed-source release confirms a monetisation pivot, and Anthropic's concurrent life sciences moves signal a deliberate vertical expansion.