Jan. 8 at 8:15 PM
Shares of Chinese AI startup Zhipu AI surged 13% after its
$558 million IPO in Hong Kong, giving the large language model developer a valuation of roughly
$6.6 billion. After a muted start to trading, the stock rallied to close at HK
$131.50, reflecting strong investor appetite for domestic AI names.
Zhipu, also known as Z. ai, says its models are used by about 12,000 enterprise customers and run on more than 80 million end-user devices, with a global developer base exceeding 45 million. The company has been identified by OpenAI as one of China’s “AI tigers,” a group seen as central to Beijing’s push to build homegrown alternatives to Western AI leaders.
The listing highlights a broader wave of Chinese AI companies turning to Hong Kong’s public markets. AI model developer MiniMax is expected to debut soon, while Baidu’s AI chip unit has filed for a Hong Kong listing, underscoring rising investor interest in China-focused AI platforms and infrastructure.
$BIDU