Moonshot AI Considers Hong Kong IPO to Raise Up to $5 Billion

Artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI (月之暗面) is considering a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, potentially as early as this year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is looking to raise up to $5 billion (approximately 33.7 billion yuan) in the offering.

Moonshot AI has hired Bank of America to coordinate the potential initial public offering, working alongside sponsors China International Capital Corporation, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs. Sources suggest the fundraising target could be between $3 billion and $5 billion. However, the plans are still under discussion, and final details regarding the amount and timing may change.

The company, founded by former Tsinghua University professor Yang Zhilin, has attracted investment from notable backers including Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, and 5Y Capital. Moonshot AI gained significant attention recently following the July release of its open-source AI model, Kimi K3, which reports indicate rivals leading models from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic in certain benchmarks.

This consideration follows a recent funding round in March where Moonshot AI secured $3.5 billion (approximately 23.6 billion yuan), exceeding expectations and valuing the company at $35 billion (approximately 236 billion yuan). The company has also been in discussions with potential investors for a new funding round with a pre-money valuation target of $50 billion (approximately 337 billion yuan).