BEIJING, Dec. 4, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE: CMCM) ("Cheetah Mobile"
or the "Company"), a leading internet company, today announced that
the Company, through two of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has
acquired an aggregate of 35.17% equity interest of Beijing
OrionStar Technology Co., Ltd. ("Beijing OrionStar") from certain
of the existing shareholders of Beijing OrionStar, including Mr.
Sheng Fu, chief executive officer
and director of the Company (the "Transaction"). The Company
previously held a 37.74% equity interest in Beijing OrionStar prior
to the completion of the Transaction. In connection with the
Transaction, the Company paid an aggregate cash consideration of
approximately US$37.6 million to the
selling shareholders of Beijing OrionStar, including approximately
US$1.1 million to Mr. Fu.
The Transaction was approved by the board of directors of the
Company (the "Board") and the audit committee of the Board. Upon
completion of the Transaction, Mr. Sheng
Fu ceased to be a direct shareholder of Beijing OrionStar
and the Company's equity interest in Beijing OrionStar increased to
72.91%. As a result, the Company will consolidate the
financial results of Beijing OrionStar into its consolidated
financial statements starting in December
2023.
Founded by Mr. Fu, Beijing OrionStar is a service robot provider
headquartered in Beijing with
focusing on the research and development of artificial intelligence
("AI"). Having made large-scale investments in the research and
development of AI technology since 2016, Beijing OrionStar has
independently developed a full range of AI technologies, including
automatic speech recognition, computer vision, and indoor
navigation, as well as acquiring significant capabilities in the
research and development of service robot operating systems,
application development, and the design and manufacturing of
full-stack hardware for service robots. These proprietary
technologies have allowed Beijing OrionStar to introduce to global
markets a diverse array of smart service robots with interactive
guest greeting, smart delivery and dual-armed collaborative
capabilities, among others.
Beijing OrionStar has established a robust sales network for its
delivery robots and speech interaction robots in China. Notably, Beijing OrionStar's five
successful product bids at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games
ranked first among service robot companies. In addition,
Beijing OrionStar started to expand its international footprint in
2021, entering into strategic cooperation agreements with large
clients in Japan and South Korea to penetrate related markets, as
well as forging partnerships with distributors in Europe and the
United States.
At the beginning of 2023, Beijing OrionStar launched Juyan, a
large language model ("LLM") technology application that provides a
one-stop solution for LLM consulting and AI services for enterprise
customers, enabling enterprises to apply LLM technology, digitalize
employees and improve operational efficiency. Beijing OrionStar has
entered into contracts with a number of customers for Juyan. At the
same time, Beijing OrionStar is in the process of independently
researching and developing LLM and empowering its robotics business
with LLM technologies. It has upgraded its family of intelligent
service robots to LLM service robots, promoting the smart
digitalization of real economy and use cases.
Mr. Fu, chief executive officer and director of the Company,
commented, "We are pleased to announce the successful completion of
this transaction and the Company's increased stake in Beijing
OrionStar. Through this transaction, the AI technology strengths
accumulated by Beijing OrionStar will allow Cheetah Mobile to
access the business chain from AI and large language models to end
use cases and applications, and complete the transition of its core
business from the Cheetah Browser in the PC era to Clean Master in
the mobile era, further to AI native applications in the artificial
general intelligence ("AGI") era.
The Transaction was based on the following four
considerations:
First, at the first anniversary of the explosion in the LLM
space, the industry is in a critical stage of transformation for AI
applications and productization. Cheetah Mobile needs to have an
unwavering commitment to a future in AI.
Second, Cheetah Mobile and Beijing OrionStar have unique
strengths with substantial synergies: (i) Cheetah Mobile's
excellence in making tool applications, and (ii) Beijing
OrionStar's focus on AI technology research and development for
seven years and its resulting proprietary full-chain AI technology.
Beijing OrionStar's history and insights into real-life use cases
and scenarios has allowed it to establish a substantial sales
network of business customers, which will be immensely helpful to
Cheetah Mobile going forward.
Third, the current competitive environment has seen many
companies investing heavily in AI. This transaction allows Cheetah
Mobile to centralize AI resources and further amplify and maximize
its own AI advantages, strengthening its competitive position in
the AGI era.
Fourth, Cheetah Mobile is optimistic about the immense potential
of the service robot market in the LLM era. LLM models have
significantly upgraded the service robot brain to better complete
repetitive tasks required by users in specific scenarios. We
believe that a greater market opportunity for service robots has
arrived.
As a result of the foregoing, the acquisition of a controlling
stake in and integration of Beijing OrionStar provides Cheetah
Mobile with a long-term growth engine in the LLM and AGI eras."
About Cheetah Mobile Inc.
Cheetah Mobile is a China-based
IT company. It has attracted hundreds of millions of users through
an array of internet products and services on PCs and mobile
devices. The Company provides advertising services to advertisers
worldwide, value-added services including the sale of premium
membership and in-app virtual items to its users as well as
multi-cloud management platform to companies globally. Cheetah
Mobile is also committed to leveraging its cutting-edge artificial
intelligence technologies to power its products and make the world
smarter. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since
May 2014.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These
statements, including management quotes and business outlook,
constitute forward-looking statements under the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements can be identified by terminology such as "will,"
"expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"estimates" and similar statements. Such statements involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, including but are not limited to the
following: Cheetah Mobile's growth strategies; Cheetah Mobile's
ability to retain and increase its user base and expand its product
and service offerings; Cheetah Mobile's ability to monetize its
platform; Cheetah Mobile's future business development, financial
condition and results of operations; competition with companies in
a number of industries including internet companies that provide
online marketing services and internet value-added services;
expected changes in Cheetah Mobile's revenues and certain cost or
expense items; and general economic and business condition globally
and in China. Further information
regarding these and other risks is included in Cheetah Mobile's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cheetah
Mobile does not undertake any obligation to update any
forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
Investor Relations Contact
Cheetah Mobile Inc.
Tel: +86 10 6292 7779
Email: ir@cmcm.com
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SOURCE Cheetah Mobile