Happy New Year! And welcome to the newest edition of ID Tech’s AI Update. Here’s the latest big news on the shifting landscape of AI and identity technology:
Meta has agreed to acquire Manus, a startup focused on agentic AI that can perform complex tasks by doing things like navigating an end user’s web browser. The move has prompted a bit of speculation about geopolitical issues given that Manus was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but the firm is now based in Singapore. Financial terms have not been disclosed, but some reports are putting the transaction in the $2-3 billion range.
Shanghai Biren Technology enjoyed an IPO pop on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, closing its first day of trading up 76 percent. Founded in 2019, Biren develops general-purpose GPUs and “intelligent computing systems” for AI applications. Meanwhile, Baidu’s AI chip subsidiary, Kunlunxin, has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, though key details haven’t yet been finalized.
Then there’s MiniMax, a Shanghai-based generative AI firm that is looking to raise up to HK$4.19 billion (about $538–540 million) in a Hong Kong IPO. While it offers a multimodal platform supporting text, audio, and video, it’s best known for the latter, through systems like Hailuo AI, which can animate still images using pre-recorded audio. Pricing for the IPO is currently anticipated for January 7, while the listing itself should follow on January 9.
xAI is expanding its “Colossus” data center through the purchase of a third building, with CEO Elon Musk dubbing the facility “MACROHARDRR”. The new building is reportedly in Southaven, Mississippi, and adjoins the “Colossus 2” facility, near a natural gas power plant that xAI is developing. The data center is expected to house over a million GPUs, and in a recent SEC filing the chipmaker Nvidia said it helped accelerate the Colossus cluster using 100,000 Hopper GPUs and Spectrum-X Ethernet networking.
Meanwhile, SoftBank Group has agreed to acquire DigitalBridge Group in an all-cash transaction valued at about $4 billion (or $3 billion if you factor in equity value. DigitalBridge is an investment manager focused on digital infrastructure – things like data centers and fiber networks – making it an appealing prospect for SoftBank, given its recent binge spending on AI investments. DigitalBridge is expected to continue operating as a standalone platform, with CEO Marc Ganzi continuing to lead it. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
The chatbot’s take: Happy New Year, everyone!
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January 2, 2026 – by Alex Perala
