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Beijing-based startup Moonshot released a new AI model Thursday just four months after its prior update.
Major U.S. companies such as Airbnb have begun to publicly tout how some Chinese AI models as viable — and often cheaper — alternatives to OpenAI’s.
The new Kimi AI model cost $4.6 million to train, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Alibaba-backed Chinese startup Moonshot has launched one of the more popular generative AI chatbots called Kimi.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Chinese startup Moonshot on Thursday released its latest generative artificial intelligence model which claims to beat OpenAI’s ChatGPT in “agentic” capabilities — or understanding what a user wants without explicit step-by-step instructions.
The model, called “Kimi K2 Thinking,” builds on the K2 model released in July by Beijing-based Moonshot, which is backed by Alibaba.

The update comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang this week again urged the U.S. to press ahead in a race against Chinese-developed AI. Some major U.S. companies such as Airbnb have begun to publicly tout how some Chinese AI models are as viable — and often cheaper — alternatives to OpenAI’s.
Despite U.S. restrictions on Chinese businesses’ access to high-end chips, companies such as DeepSeek have released AI models that are open sourced and with user fees a fraction of ChatGPT’s.
DeepSeek also claimed it spent $5.6 million for its V3 model — in contrast to the billions spent by OpenAI.The Kimi K2 Thinking model cost $4.6 million to train, according to a source familiar with the matter.
It can automatically select 200 to 300 tools to complete tasks on its own, reducing the need for human intervention according to Moonshot. CNBC was unable to independently verify the DeepSeek or Kimi figures.DeepSeek last month released a new AI model that claims to improve performance by using visual clues to expand the context of information it is processing at once. More

An economist with super-hero vision might stand in New Delhi, gaze in every direction and see turmoil. In Nepal, India’s neighbour to the north-east, “Gen Z” protests erupted earlier this year over inequality, as the scions of political dynasties flaunt their luxury holidays and designer clothes on Instagram while ordinary Nepalis struggle with unemployment. Further east, Bangladesh’s students led a revolution last year to overthrow Sheikh Hasina, who had been prime minister since 2009. Among their grievances was a quota system that reserved state jobs for descendants of war veterans. To India’s south, Sri Lankans stormed the presidential palace in 2022, forcing Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president, to flee. Mr Rajapaksa had presided over an economic crisis that left the country bankrupt, with fuel and medicine running out. To the west, Pakistan faces protests by supporters of an imprisoned former prime minister and yet another IMF rescue. More

Tech bosses are rarely restrained when discussing artificial intelligence. Over the past year they have filled conference halls and social-media feeds with visions of an AI job apocalypse. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s boss, has warned that “entire classes of jobs will go away”. Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, predicts that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and drive unemployment into the double digits. Elon Musk, never to be outdone, recently proclaimed that “AI and robots will replace all jobs.” More

Across the rich world, parents of young children face a problem. In America, one of many countries with few subsidies, a household with two working parents and two young children can spend as much on child care as on housing. This pushes families to space out or have fewer children to avoid financial ruin. High costs also keep women out of the labour force, as it can be uneconomical to return. More

Snap up an asset as its price plummets, and you are “catching a falling knife”. Chase a series of small profits while risking a big blow-up, and you are “picking up pennies in front of a steamroller”. To bet against America’s central bank is to “fight the Fed”; to short-sell Japanese government bonds is to attempt the “widowmaker”. More

A protester with the Main Street Alliance holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court, as its justices are set to hear oral arguments on U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to preserve sweeping tariffs after lower courts ruled that Trump overstepped his authority, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 5, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters

Traders slashed odds that the Supreme Court will uphold President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs after justices on Wednesday signaled doubts about the legality of the administration’s sweeping trade powers.
On Kalshi, contracts tied to whether the court would rule in favor of Trump’s tariffs slipped to around 30% from nearly 50% before Wednesday’s hearing.

Arrows pointing outwards

A similar contract on platform Polymarket dropped to about 30% from more than 40% earlier in the week, reflecting traders’ growing belief that the justices may strike down the policy.

Arrows pointing outwards

The moves came after several conservative justices joined their liberal colleagues in expressing unease about the broad authority Trump claimed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imports. They sharply questioned Solicitor General D. John Sauer on the Trump administration’s legal justification of the tariffs, which critics say infringes on the power of Congress to tax.
Lower federal courts have ruled that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from many U.S. trading partners, and fentanyl tariffs on products from Canada, China and Mexico.
Prediction markets, which allow traders to bet on real-world events, often react swiftly to perceived signals during high-profile court hearings. Wednesday’s shift suggested that traders viewed the justices’ tone as an indicator of headwinds for the president’s trade agenda.
The Supreme Court will not issue a decision in the case on Wednesday. It is not clear when the court will release its ruling. More

Carl Icahn speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016.
David A. Grogan | CNBC

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn took a significant stake in auto service chain Monro, becoming the largest single shareholder and marking his latest move in the automotive sector.
Icahn disclosed ownership of 4,439,914 shares, representing a 14.8% stake in Monro, according to a new regulatory filing. The filing showed the shares were acquired by Icahn’s investment entities. It wasn’t clear whether he plans to push for changes at Monro.

Icahn becomes the largest shareholder in Monro, previously known as Monro Muffler Brake, surpassing BlackRock Fund Advisors, which held 14.11% as of the latest filing, according to FactSet data.
Monro’s shares surged more than 17% in afternoon trading Wednesday following the disclosure. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the move earlier.

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Monro Wednesday

Icahn, 89, has remained active in recent years despite challenges at his publicly traded investment firm, Icahn Enterprises. Shares of his investment firm are down about 2% this year following a 50% sell-off in 2024 and a 66% decline in 2023 after a short seller’s attack.
His latest move adds Monro to a long list of companies where he’s taken large stakes and sought to influence corporate strategy, from JetBlue to Southwest Gas. The investor previously owned Icahn Automotive before selling the business last year as part of a broader restructuring of his holdings.
Monro shares had fallen more than 40% this year before Icahn’s purchase became public. The company has struggled in recent years with declining same-store sales and rising labor costs. More

Chinese electric car company Xpeng is releasing a new version of its driver-assist system that it says significantly reduces the need for human intervention.
The company is opening the tech to other companies, starting with Volkswagen.
Xpeng also claimed the new system outperforms Tesla’s Full Self-Driving in certain aspects.

Chinese electric car company Xpeng announced on Nov. 5, 2025, it is releasing a new version of its driver-assist system.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

Guangzhou, CHINA — Chinese electric car company Xpeng announced Wednesday that by the first quarter of 2026, it will start rolling out a new driver-assist system for navigating narrow roads.
Xpeng claimed the new system enables cars to drive themselves smoothly through tight streets — which it played up as better for the European market — and significantly reduces the need for human intervention. The Chinese company said that German automaker Volkswagen will be its first client as Xpeng opens the system to other car makers.

Speaking at the company’s “AI Day,” Xpeng CEO Xiaopeng He claimed the new driver-assist system — which builds on Xpeng’s existing systems for assisting drivers with parking, driving on highways and navigating city roads — required less human intervention than Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, and completed a test route several minutes quicker.
“Next month I will go to the U.S. to compare [Xpeng’s latest system] to FSD again,” He said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

The new model is also able to respond to traffic controllers’ hand gestures, as well as to traffic light countdowns from red to green, the company said.
Tesla has struggled to get Beijing’s approval to roll out FSD in mainland China. Xpeng started releasing its driver-assist tech in major Chinese cities in early 2023, and the systems have rapidly become a must-have feature for Chinese companies wanting to survive in the highly competitive domestic market.
Just as Tesla has expanded this year into robotaxis, Xpeng on Wednesday announced plans to launch three robotaxi models next year and start testing in Guangzhou. More