Orion Star was accused of burning 1 billion RMB and suspending executive salaries; Fu Sheng wrote a nearly 3,000-character response at midnight.

This article was published around 7:00 p.m. on March 7. After reading it, Fu Sheng released his response at 12:54 p.m. on March 8—less than six hours later. Fu Sheng’s response was addressed to all Orion Star employees, titled 'Believing in the Beauty of the World, Facing Criticism Optimistically.' He stated that external reports were based on rumors and unverified information, and that coverage of the company’s operations and products was severely inaccurate. Fu Sheng offered five key points in reply: 1. Orion Star made firm early-stage investments in AI technology, establishing proprietary, end-to-end AI capabilities—capabilities that even contributed to the Winter Olympics. 2. Orion Star has actively explored commercial applications and gained broad customer recognition; its delivery service robots have generated over 100 million RMB in cash receipts. 3. Orion Star believes the service robot industry has entered its spring season and has set an ambitious target of achieving profitability within one year. 4. Entrepreneurship is about finding like-minded people. 5. The relationship between Orion Star and Cheetah Mobile fully complies with listing-company regulations. Fu Sheng acknowledged room for improvement in R&D efficiency but emphasized that Orion Star’s R&D efficiency remains exceptionally high compared to other AI companies that burn tens of billions of RMB. He also revealed that the delivery service robot launched in 2021—though late to market—has already generated over 100 million RMB in cash receipts. The product is now deployed across more than 100 Chinese cities and began international expansion in the second half of 2021. Regarding accusations of excessive spending, Fu Sheng noted Orion Star’s marketing personnel productivity is three to four times higher than industry peers. As for claims in external reports that Orion Star had failed to distribute year-end bonuses since 2017, Fu Sheng explicitly responded: 'All promised year-end bonuses have been paid—including to former employees who had already left the company.' He also confirmed the existence of Orion Star’s 'Phoenix Plan' and 'Striver Plan,' but insisted that reports linking these initiatives to unpaid bonuses or salaries were taken out of context. On Orion Star’s relationship with Cheetah Mobile, Fu Sheng gave an example: Orion Star shares office space with Cheetah Mobile in its headquarters building and pays rent accordingly. Fu Sheng explained that Orion Star’s relocation from Cheetah Mobile’s office was driven purely by rental cost considerations—not, as some speculated, by allegations of 'position-related embezzlement' raised by major shareholders.

SpaceX Q3 financial report: rockets for promotion, Starlink for profit, AI for burning cash.

SpaceX takes the opposite approach, sticking to short-term spot pricing. Musk’s rationale is that the value per watt of computing power rises over time, so renewal prices go up. This logic rests on one premise: persistent compute scarcity. Once scarcity disappears, this pricing model collapses. Next, consider customers. CoreWeave’s clients include Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta; SpaceX’s include Anthropic, Google, and Reflection. All appear formidable—but Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu ran the numbers: SpaceX’s already-signed customers are projected to generate $54.5 billion in annualized revenue, exceeding half of the company’s year-end $100 billion target. Such extreme customer concentration is a vulnerability—not an advantage. Finally, examine balance sheets. CoreWeave operates with net debt; SpaceX holds $89.855 billion in cash and marketable securities—$12.6 billion more than its total liabilities—and maintains an investment-grade credit rating. Crucially, SpaceX possesses something CoreWeave lacks: Starlink’s quarterly operating profit of $2.367 billion. Once all three metrics are assessed, the distinction between the two companies lies not in rent levels—but in rent quality. A different perspective exists in the market. Former assistant research professor Roger calculated on X (formerly Twitter) that Google could obtain equivalent compute power from CoreWeave at significantly lower cost—even with a 100% premium, CoreWeave would still be cheaper than SpaceX. He dubbed this phenomenon 'circular finance.' AI researcher Gary Marcus put it more bluntly: xAI has realized it cannot win the model race and thus seeks to improve its financial appearance ahead of IPO by renting out compute capacity. Musk’s counterargument: 'All hyperscale cloud providers and dozens of smaller firms are relentlessly demanding compute from us. If we accepted every request, we could rent out several times more compute than we currently do.' Who is right? That remains unclear—for now. What *is* clear is this: whether this rental income continues depends entirely on whether tenants keep burning cash. 06 How Long Can This $4.4 Billion Last? Before this quarterly report, the market kept asking: With a full-year net loss of $4.9 billion and $2.5 billion burned in AI alone last quarter, was this spending justified? This report delivered an answer: net profit of $4.404 billion—more than double analysts’ expectations. But this report requires deeper scrutiny. First, the $4.4 billion profit covers only one quarter. In 2023, the company lost $4.628 billion; in 2024, it earned $791 million; in 2025, it lost $4.937 billion; in Q1 2026, it lost $4.276 billion; in Q2, $541 million; and in Q3, it earned $4.404 billion. Across these three quarters, cumulative net income remains negative—$413 million. As of the end of Q3, the company remains unprofitable overall. Second, the $4.4 billion did not come from core operations. Operating profit stood at $2.791 billion; the extra $1.6 billion came from interest income, other gains, and a tax benefit. Meanwhile, SI—the largest revenue segment—reported $431 million in operating profit, but this figure includes $1.2 billion in Cursor stock-based compensation expenses. Adding those back yields $1.6 billion in adjusted operating profit.

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