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Keep Inc. Announces 2024 Interim Results

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2 years ago

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BEIJING, Aug. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Keep Inc. (“Keep” or the “Company”), the largest online fitness platform in China, today announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2024.

2024 Interim Results Highlights

Total revenues were RMB1,037.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, a 5.4% increase from RMB984.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.Gross profit was RMB477.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, a 12.7% increase from RMB423.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.Gross profit margin was 46.0% for the six months ended June 30, 2024, compared to 43.0% for the six months ended June 30, 2023.Adjusted net loss (non-IFRS measure) was RMB160.7 million, compared to RMB223.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.Adjusted net loss margin narrowed to 15.5% for the six months ended June 30, 2024, compared with 22.7% for the six months ended June 30, 2023.

2024 Interim Operational Highlights

Six months ended June 30,

2024

2023

Average monthly active users (“MAU(s)”) (in thousands)

29,660

29,549

Average monthly revenues per MAU (in RMB)

5.8

5.6

Average monthly subscribing members (in thousands)

3,282

3,017

Membership penetration rate

11.1 %

10.2 %

Mr. Wang Ning, Chief Executive Officer of Keep Inc., commented, “We are pleased of our solid performance for the first half of 2024, which is a result of our proactive efforts in propelling our corporate strategies and tactics to meet the various needs of our consumers and communities through the new release of App 8.0 version, expanding portfolio of services and benefits, integrating marketing campaign across online fitness services, smart fitness devices and complementary products, as well as enhancing user trust and consumer sentiment in the Keep brand. We are on track to healthy recovery and are committed to sustaining high-quality development.

Total revenues reached RMB1,037 million, up 5.4% year-over-year, driven by the increased resilience and scale of our monetization initiatives across self-branded fitness products, online membership subscriptions, and advertising sales. By prudently reducing costs and increasing efficiency, our gross profit margin expanded to 46.0% while adjusted net loss considerably narrowed by 28.0% year-over-year.  More importantly, we continue to see elevated user experience and activity level as our membership penetration rate increased to 11.1% in the first half of 2024, up from 10.2% in the first half of 2023. Looking ahead, we will continue to implement our strategic priorities of enhancing overall offerings of online content, outdoor categories, AI-centric solution, as well as evaluating potential synergistic cooperation throughout our value chain, driving sustained momentum across our ecosystem for our long-term growth.”

2024 Interim Financial Results

Revenues

Total revenues were RMB1,037.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 5.4% increase from RMB984.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, due primarily to increased revenues from self-branded fitness products and advertising and others.

Revenues from self-branded fitness products were RMB501.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 7.5% increase from RMB466.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, mainly attributable to the increase in wholesale channels sales, as well as the increased sales of fitness gear and apparel products.

Revenues from online membership and paid content were RMB437.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 2.6% decrease from RMB448.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily due to a decrease in revenues from virtual sports events, which was partially offset by the increased revenues from online membership. 

Revenues from advertising and others were RMB98.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a substantial increase of 42.4% from RMB69.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily attributable to online to offline integrated advertising services.

Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues was RMB560.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a decrease of 0.2% from RMB561.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primary due to a decrease in cost of online membership and paid content, which was partially offset by an increase in cost of advertising and others.

Cost of self-branded fitness products was RMB343.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 2.1% increase from RMB336.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, mainly attributable to an increase in sales of self-branded fitness products. Due to economies of scale, the growth rate of costs is lower than the growth rate of revenues.

Cost of online membership and paid content was RMB140.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 21.8% decrease from RMB179.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023. The decrease was mainly attributable to decreases of (i) RMB14.4 million in costs associated with virtual sports events; (ii) RMB9.8 million in content related costs as the Company optimized IP costs associated with third party influencer partnerships; and (iii) RMB5.4 million in employee benefit costs (including related share-based compensation expenses) mainly due to the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

Cost of advertising and others was RMB76.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 68.5% increase from RMB45.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, mainly attributable to an increase of RMB23.9 million in advertising production costs associated with the expanded advertising services the Company offers and relatively higher cost of certain offline advertising activities.

Gross profit and gross profit margin

Gross profit was RMB477.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 12.7% increase from RMB423.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.

Gross profit margin was 46.0% for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 3.0 percentage points increase from 43.0% for the six months ended June 30, 2023, mainly attributable to an increase in gross profit margin from online membership and paid content and self-branded fitness products.

Gross profit of self-branded fitness products increased by 21.6% from RMB130.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 to RMB158.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, mainly attributable to the increase in the sales of self-branded fitness products and improvement in gross profit margin.

Gross profit of online membership and paid content increased by 10.1% from RMB269.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 to RMB296.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, as the Company generated higher sales from membership subscription with optimized content related cost.

Gross profit of advertising and others decreased by 6.7% from RMB24.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 to RMB22.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, primarily due to the relatively higher cost of certain offline advertising activities.

Fulfillment expenses

Fulfillment expenses were RMB61.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 25.8% decrease from RMB83.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily due to optimized warehousing, packaging and delivery expenses.

Selling and marketing expenses

Selling and marketing expenses were RMB323.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 25.8% increase from RMB257.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily due to increase in promotional and advertising expenses associated with more marketing activities for brand promotion and user acquisition.

Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses were RMB90.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 19.3% decrease from RMB112.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily attributable to decreases of (i) RMB14.6 million in expected credit loss in accounts receivables because the Company optimized the receivables management measures; and (ii) RMB7.2 million in administrative personnel costs (including related share-based compensation expenses), mainly due to the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

Research and development expenses

Research and development expenses were RMB195.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, representing a 19.6% decrease from RMB243.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, primarily attributable to decreases of (i) RMB39.6 million in research and development personnel costs (including related share-based compensation expenses); (ii) RMB4.6 million in cloud computing service fees; and (iii) RMB2.1 million in outsourcing and other labor costs.

Fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares

Fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares was RMB1.4 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2023. The change in the fair value of convertible redeemable preferred shares was primarily attributable to the changes in the valuation of the Company. The Company did not record any further fair value changes of the convertible redeemable preferred shares following the listing of the shares of the Company on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange (the “Listing”) as preferred shares liabilities were redesignated and reclassified from liabilities to equity after automatically converting into ordinary shares upon the Listing.

(Loss)/profit

Net loss was RMB163.4 million for the six months ended 2024, compared with a net profit of RMB1.2 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2023. Net profit for the six months ended June 30, 2023 was primarily due to fair value changes of convertible redeemable preferred shares.

Adjusted net loss (non-IFRS measure)

Adjusted net loss (non-IFRS measure) was RMB160.7 million for the six months ended 2024, compared to RMB223.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.

Liquidity and capital resource

We had cash and cash equivalents of RMB1.4 billion as of June 30, 2024, as compared to RMB1.6 billion as of December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the use of cash for operating and financing activities. Most of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents were denominated in Renminbi while most of the time deposits were denominated in U.S. dollars.

Share repurchase programs

Under the HK$16 million and HK$100 million Share Repurchase Programs announced on February 14, 2024 and May 20, 2024, respectively, as of June 30, 2024, the Company repurchased a total of 5,256,200 shares of the Company on the Stock Exchange at the aggregate consideration of HK$35.49 million before expenses.

Outlook

2024 will mark a year of comprehensive upgrades for Keep platform with continued execution of the strategies. The Company will continue to promote synchronized improvements in scale and efficiency. While overall consumer confidence is gradually recovering, the Company recognizes that both opportunities and challenges exist. Keep will continue to invest in several key areas: (i) enhance overall online offerings; (ii) further explore the outdoor category by enriching member privileges, leveraging the value of fitness data, and actively expanding its offline presence; (iii) expand AI-driven overseas fitness app portfolio to deliver innovative fitness experiences; and (iv) promote the growth of self-branded fitness products. In addition, Keep will continue to actively seek collaboration opportunities along the industry chain to increase commercial value across our ecosystem, ensuring sustainable long-term development.

Conference Call

The Company’s management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 p.m. Beijing Time on August 23, 2024.

Participants who wish to join the call should follow the following method:

1)  Please click on the call link and complete the online registration form. Kindly register at least one working day before the event.
https://register.vevent.com/register/BI0e1af0f1c86f4526ac796550f5b10a03

2)  Upon registering you will receive the dial-in info and a unique PIN to join the call as well as an email confirmation with the details.

3)  Select a method for joining the call:

Dial-In: A dial in number and unique PIN are displayed to connect directly from your phone.Call Me: Enter your phone number and click “Call Me” for an immediate callback from the system. The call will come from a US number, and this function is only applicable for participants outside China.

4)  Please dial in 15 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the personal PIN to join the call.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at https://ir.keep.com/en/news_events.php.

About Keep Inc.

Keep Inc. (HKEX Stock Code: 3650) is the largest online fitness platform in China in terms of MAUs and number of workout sessions completed by users in 2022, according to CIC. Keep offers a comprehensive fitness solution to help users achieve their fitness goals. On the Keep platform, extensive, professional, and premium fitness content with diverse activities and services are offered to encourage users to engage in daily exercise. Keep platform leverages AI technology to provide personalized workout programs incorporating recorded courses and interactive live streaming classes, dynamically customized to each user’s athletic levels, fitness goals, daily workout patterns and diet. Keep’s services seamlessly connect the physical and digital realms, spanning smart devices, workout equipment, athletic apparel and food to provide an immersive fitness experience.

For more information on Keep Inc., visit https://keep.com/.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the business outlook, estimates of financial performance, forecast business plans and growth strategies of the Company. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are stated herein on the basis of the outlook at the time of this press release. They are based on certain expectations, assumptions and premises, some of which are subjective or beyond our control. These forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect and may not be realised in the future. Underlying these forward-looking statements are a lot of risks and uncertainties. In light of the risks and uncertainties, the inclusion of forward-looking statements in this press release should not be regarded as representations by the board of directors of the Company or the Company that the plans and objectives will be achieved, and investors should not place undue reliance on such statements.

Non-IFRS Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are presented in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards as issued by the IASB, we also use adjusted net loss as an additional financial measure, which is not required by, or presented in accordance with, IFRS Accounting Standards.

The Company’s management believe adjusted net loss provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our consolidated results of operations in the same manner as they help our management. However, our presentation of adjusted net loss may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. The use of adjusted net loss has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation from, or as a substitute for an analysis of, our results of operations or financial condition as reported under IFRS Accounting Standards.

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS

Six months ended June 30,

2024

2023

RMB’000

RMB’000

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Revenues

1,037,343

984,656

Cost of revenues

(560,021)

(560,985)

Gross profit

477,322

423,671

Fulfillment expenses

(61,921)

(83,431)

Selling and marketing expenses

(323,412)

(257,103)

Administrative expenses

(90,455)

(112,044)

Research and development expenses

(195,690)

(243,371)

Other income

3,809

10,312

Other gains, net

2,531

3,320

Operating loss

(187,816)

(258,646)

Finance income

25,834

24,755

Finance expenses

(1,371)

(3,246)

Finance income, net

24,463

21,509

Fair value changes of convertible redeemable
    preferred shares

–

1,432,261

(Loss)/profit before income tax

(163,353)

1,195,124

Income tax expense

–

–

(Loss)/profit for the period

(163,353)

1,195,124

(Loss)/earnings per share (expressed in RMB per 
    share)

Basic

(0.35)

8.64

Diluted

(0.35)

(0.52)

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at

June 30,

As at

December 31,

2024

2023

RMB’000

RMB’000

(Unaudited)

(Audited)

ASSETS

Non-current assets

Property and equipment

13,076

17,982

Right-of-use assets

44,503

62,256

Intangible assets

9,869

11,561

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

52,167

13,519

Other non-current assets

55,312

51,994

174,927

157,312

Current assets

Inventories

182,057

121,380

Accounts and notes receivables

264,636

228,279

Prepayments and other current assets

202,316

174,842

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

69,111

65,199

Short-term time deposits

56,760

88,960

Cash and cash equivalents

1,376,029

1,612,769

2,150,909

2,291,429

Total assets

2,325,836

2,448,741

 

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION (CONTINUED)

As at

June 30,

As at

December 31,

2024

2023

RMB’000

RMB’000

(Unaudited)

(Audited)

EQUITY

Share capital

168

168

Other reserves

8,170,955

8,187,464

Accumulated losses

(6,477,836)

(6,314,483)

Total equity

1,693,287

1,873,149

LIABILITIES

Non-current liabilities

Lease liabilities

14,940

32,453

Other non-current liabilities

5,505

10,968

20,445

43,421

Current liabilities

Accounts payables

233,674

157,417

Accrued expenses

209,285

177,355

Other current liabilities

40,144

57,838

Contract liabilities

97,633

93,280

Borrowings

–

10,009

Lease liabilities

31,368

36,272

612,104

532,171

Total liabilities

632,549

575,592

Total equity and liabilities

2,325,836

2,448,741

The following table reconciles the adjusted net loss for the periods presented to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS Accounting Standards, which is (loss)/profit for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023:

For the six months ended June 30,

2024

2023

RMB’000

RMB’000

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

Reconciliation of  (loss)/profit to adjusted net loss

(Non-IFRS measure):

(Loss)/profit for the period

(163,353)

1,195,124

Adjustments for:

Share-based payment expenses

2,663

13,994

Fair value changes of convertible redeemable
    preferred shares

–

(1,432,261)

Adjusted net loss for the period

    (Non-IFRS measure)

(160,690)

(223,143)

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keep-inc-announces-2024-interim-results-302229389.html

SOURCE Keep Inc.

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Technology

U.S. Quartz Workers: Strong Safeguard Remedies Needed to Save 100,000 American Manufacturing Jobs

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30 minutes ago

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July 23, 2026

By

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Quartz Manufacturers Alliance for America (QMAA) released a powerful video featuring quartz manufacturing workers from across the country calling for free and fair trade policies to save 100,000 American jobs. QMAA, a coalition of leading U.S.-based quartz slab manufacturers, are calling for strong safeguard remedies after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found a huge flood of foreign imports had caused tremendous injury to the domestic quartz industry.

QMAA members are urging the Trump Administration to build on the ITC’s strong recommendation and address this major flood of quartz imports with a Tariff of 50% and a Reshoring Import Cap of 141 million square feet on imported quartz surface products. This will ensure a reshoring of the good-paying U.S. quartz manufacturing jobs stolen by companies who cheat U.S. trade law, distort competition and are decimating U.S. quartz manufacturing. Together, these trade remedies will provide the relief necessary to save the 100,000 jobs supported by the U.S. quartz industry.

The video features workers from LX Hausys, Guidoni USA and Cambria Company and is available here:
Save 100,000 American Quartz Jobs

Quotes from QMAA Quartz Manufacturing Workers
“This facility used to be a Husqvarna plant. Husqvarna closed down due to cheap foreign imports. There were over 1,000 people working here and all of a sudden…I’m worried I may see the same thing take place again.”
-Raymond Mack, Production Operator, Guidoni USA, Helena-McRae, GA

“Foreign countries, mainly China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, have been circumventing and cheating the American market. We believe in the industry. We believe in the American working power. We just want to level the playing field, make it fair for everyone and everyone will benefit.”
– Daniel Vas de Melo SA, Business Development Manager, Guidoni USA, McRae-Helena, GA

“In order for us to continue to compete, we need a strong Tariff and Import Cap on imported quartz surfaces. That will ensure we can play on an even playing field. That’s all we’re asking for. I would hate to see cheap, imported quartz have a negative impact on families such as mine and the other families that we employ here.”
– Mike Morici, Vice President – LX Hausys, Adairsville, GA

“The surge of foreign imports has shocked the U.S. economy, and the market for surfaces. It’s taken prices down to unsustainably low levels for any domestic supplier. The result of that is we’re not producing as much as we should, we can’t hire as many people as we would like to, and we can’t grow our business in the way that we and our peers in the U.S. want to grow.”
– Andrew Eich, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cambria

“As these foreign imports flood the market, we lose the ability to create and sustain jobs that ensure good paying conditions for manufacturing workers. There will be over 100,000 jobs that have the strong potential to go away.”
– Jack Sundry, SVP Core and Lexus – Cambria, Southern Minnesota

Background
In September 2025, QMAA filed a Global Safeguard petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) under Section 201 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974. The ITC’s thorough investigation found serious injury to the domestic industry caused by a massive import surge designed to undercut American businesses. Quartz imports have surged by 78.3% within the past five years, leading to a nearly 20% decline in domestic production, factory closures and major job reductions.

A final safeguard decision from the United States Trade Representative is expected by Aug. 1, 2026.

About the Quartz Manufacturing Alliance for America:
QMAA is a coalition of U.S.-based, American quartz slab manufacturing factories, united with other industry leaders to support and strengthen the American quartz industry. QMAA is committed to ensuring a free and fair, competitive marketplace born of free enterprise that provides the opportunity to compete on a level playing field for American quartz slab manufacturing factories and their valued workers. We also believe this effort will have a positive impact throughout the entire quartz surfacing industry, including to the strong benefit of American stone fabrication shops and upstream suppliers of quartz minerals and resin. Learn more at: https://www.qmaa.org/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-quartz-workers-strong-safeguard-remedies-needed-to-save-100-000-american-manufacturing-jobs-302833444.html

SOURCE Quartz Manufacturing Alliance of America

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Databricks and Microsoft expand partnership to help enterprises bring business context to enterprise AI

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July 23, 2026

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Databricks and Microsoft extend strategic partnership through the 2030s to scale enterprise AIDatabricks deepens its bet on Azure, growing its use of Azure Databricks to run its own core business operations and analytics, while both companies advance native integration across the Microsoft stack, including Databricks Genie and Microsoft 365Databricks increases its use of Microsoft Azure Cobalt to improve performance and efficiency

REDMOND, Wash. and SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Microsoft Corp. and Databricks on Wednesday announced an expansion of their decade-long strategic partnership, extending into the 2030s. Databricks will deepen its use of Azure Databricks to run core business operations and build its unified lakehouse, while leveraging Azure Cobalt, Microsoft’s next-generation Arm-based infrastructure, to improve performance and efficiency. Microsoft will also continue integrating Databricks Data and AI platform across its products, bringing capabilities like Genie, Databricks’ AI co-worker, directly into customer workflows. Together, the companies are helping enterprises build AI grounded in their own business context with the cost efficiency, control and choice needed to scale successfully.

Enterprises want AI that understands their customers, products, operations, metrics and business processes, all while running securely where work happens. Yet, most still struggle to connect AI to trusted business knowledge, govern models and agents consistently, and control costs. Microsoft and Databricks are helping customers close that gap: 

“For nearly a decade, Databricks and Microsoft have helped enterprises innovate with data and AI,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co‑Founder and CEO of Databricks. “Today, our partnership is stronger than ever. With Databricks Genie and Unity AI Gateway deeply integrated across Microsoft’s products, we’re helping enterprises unify their data and ground AI in business knowledge. This lets customers get the full benefits of agents and models while controlling costs and ensuring governance.”

“The next generation of AI will be defined by how effectively organizations turn their unique knowledge into intelligence,” said Judson Althoff, CEO, Microsoft Commercial Business. “Microsoft and Databricks are helping customers connect data, AI and business context to accelerate decision-making and drive measurable impact. With Databricks deepening its investment in Azure Databricks and Azure Cobalt-powered infrastructure, customers will benefit from greater performance, efficiency and scale for their most demanding workloads. Databricks’ decision to run its own core business operations on Azure Databricks also gives customers confidence in a platform proven at enterprise scale.”

Databricks runs core business operations on Azure Databricks 

As part of this latest deal, Databricks deepens its commitment to Azure, running its own core business operations and analytics on Azure Databricks, using the very platform it delivers to customers at scale.

Advancing performance with Azure Cobalt

Databricks will also expand its use of Azure Cobalt, Microsoft’s next-generation Arm-based infrastructure, to improve performance and efficiency for agentic and data-intensive workloads. Databricks currently uses Cobalt 100 and plans to adopt Cobalt 200, which delivers up to 50% better performance and includes memory encryption enabled by default.

Deep integrations for Databricks Genie and Unity AI Gateway with Microsoft product stack

By combining the Databricks Data + AI Platform with Azure’s global scale, customers can accelerate AI transformation while maintaining control and reliability. As a native Azure service, Azure Databricks makes its AI capabilities available directly within customers’ existing Microsoft environment, grounding and operating agents on enterprise data with Genie and Genie Ontology, and governing models, agents and cost through Unity AI Gateway. Deeply integrated across the Microsoft ecosystem spanning Microsoft Entra, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure security, Microsoft OneLake, Power BI, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Foundry, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot, these capabilities bring governed, real-time data and AI into business workflows, giving organizations the context, control, choice and cost efficiency needed to drive impact.

Continued investment is evident from our recent announcements with Databricks at Data + AI Summit in June.

Customer impact with Azure Databricks

The deepened collaboration strengthens support for joint customers running data, analytics and AI workloads on Azure Databricks, delivering improved performance, security, AI governance and enterprise readiness. Thousands of customers, including Banco Bradesco, the Cincinnati Reds, Electrolux, SMBC and Unilever, already use Azure Databricks to run critical workloads and scale AI with confidence.

Read more on the proven business value of the Databricks and Microsoft partnership on the Microsoft Azure blog.

About Databricks

Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including AT&T, Bayer, BMW Group, HSBC, T-Mobile, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

 

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

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Harness and Kong Expand Strategic Partnership to Deliver Comprehensive API and AI Security

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30 minutes ago

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July 23, 2026

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Joint solution extends proven API gateway security to the AI era — with automated AI discovery and runtime AI protection

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harness, the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, and Kong Inc., a leading developer of API and AI connectivity technologies, today announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to address the growing security challenges posed by AI-driven architectures, autonomous agents, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) deployments.

According to The State of AI-Native Application Security 2025 report, as enterprises race to deploy AI at scale, 62% have no visibility into where LLMs are in use across their environment, and 74% say AI sprawl will outpace API sprawl when it comes to risk — making embedded, infrastructure-level security more critical than ever. And companies are now deploying agents into their operations at an exponentially increasing rate, making it a necessity to protect the agents themselves and the systems interacting with those agents.

The two companies are extending their joint solution from Kong API Gateway to also include Kong AI Gateway, bringing Harness’s AI security intelligence directly into the AI infrastructure layer and enabling enterprises to discover, monitor, and protect every agent, AI asset, LLM-powered service, and MCP-connected workflow that traverses it.

A Proven Foundation: Harness and Kong API Gateway

Harness and Kong have been jointly trusted by enterprises to deliver best-in-class API security for years. The existing Harness and Kong API Gateway integration provides:

Comprehensive API traffic visibility and behavioral analysis across all Kong-managed servicesReal-time detection and blocking of API threats, including OWASP API Security Top 10 risks, credential stuffing attacks, and business logic abuseContinuous sensitive data tracking to identify PII exposure and regulatory riskZero-friction deployment alongside existing Kong configurations

This new offering of the AI Gateway solution applies the same level of security depth to AI infrastructure, ensuring that security teams are not left behind as their organizations adopt AI and agentic operations.

“Our partnership with Harness has given joint customers production-grade API security that works with the way they build, not against it,” said Ken Kim, Senior Vice President, Business Development at Kong Inc. “Extending to include Kong AI Gateway is a natural next step. The same enterprises are now moving AI into production through our gateway and need the same depth of visibility and control they’ve come to rely on for their APIs for all AI traffic types including LLM, MCP, and A2A. That’s exactly what this delivers and is crucial for organizations scaling in the agentic era.”

The New Frontier: Kong AI Gateway and Harness AI Security

As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, the attack surface has fundamentally shifted. AI agents, LLM-powered microservices, and MCP-enabled integrations introduce new vectors that traditional security tools were not designed to address. Unlike traditional software, AI agents are non-deterministic — the same agent can behave differently on consecutive runs, making it impossible to secure them the way you’d secure a static API. The new Harness and Kong AI Gateway integration directly tackles these challenges across two critical domains: AI discovery and AI protection.

AI Discovery
Harness automatically inventories every AI asset, API, MCP server, tool, prompt, and resource routed through Kong AI Gateway — providing security teams with a continuously updated catalog of their AI attack surface. No manual documentation. No blind spots.

AI Protection
Harness applies behavioral analysis and anomaly detection to AI traffic in real time, identifying prompt injection attacks, data exfiltration through AI responses, jailbreaking, malicious code in prompts, and other AI-specific threats. Enterprises gain the same depth of observability and protection for their agents and AI workloads that they already rely on for traditional APIs, with full prompt and response details available for incident investigation and inline policy enforcement through Kong AI Gateway.

“Shadow AI has become the defining security blind spot for enterprises today. Traditional tools were built for static code and predictable systems, not for adaptive AI models, agent-to-agent communication, and MCP-connected workflows that evolve continuously,” said Rahul Sood, GM of Application Security at Harness. “This integration of Harness AI Security with Kong puts security intelligence directly into the connectivity layer where AI traffic flows. Joint customers now have the visibility and control they need to move fast without losing sight of what’s happening across their AI infrastructure.”

Availability

The Harness and Kong API Gateway integration is generally available today for all joint customers. The Kong AI Gateway integration, including AI Discovery and AI Protection, is also generally available now. Joint customers can contact their account team or request a demo.

About Harness
Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, enabling engineering teams to build, test, and deliver software faster and more securely. Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the platform brings intelligent automation to every stage of the software delivery lifecycle after code — removing toil and freeing developers from manual, repetitive work. Companies like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels use Harness to accelerate releases by up to 75%, cut cloud costs by 60%, and achieve 10x efficiency across DevOps. Based in San Francisco, Harness is backed by Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

About Kong

Kong Inc., a leading developer of API and AI connectivity technologies, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com.

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SOURCE Harness

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