Zhipu AI Debuts in Hong Kong After $558 Million IPO
Its trading debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange following a successful $558 million IPO for Zhipu AI under the name Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC Ltd. is a breakthrough since it is the first major Chinese generative artificial intelligence firm to trade in the country publicly. On Thursday, the shares of the Beijing-based company started trading after creating incredible investor demand within the institutional and retail markets.
It was trading almost 10% above its offer price of 116.20 Hong Kong Dollars (15) on Thursday and had an offer of approximately 37.4 million shares by the Beijing-based startup.
The IPO priced Zhipu at approximately HK$4.3 billion, and it is one of the larger AI floats over the last few years.
Smartkarma analyst Douglas Kim said he was optimistic about the listing, and shares may be valued close to two times the issue price. The good performance indicates the confidence of the investors in Zhipu as one of the market leaders in the competitive Chinese AI environment.
Background and Financial performance of the company:
Zhipu AI is the brainchild of scholars of the Chinese Tsinghua University and is a trailblazer in the artificial intelligence segment of the country. The company has gained the support of large technology conglomerates as such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. as well as a variety of the local government funds.
Such a supportive strategy has helped Zhipu to obtain those contracts with the state-owned enterprises, which tend to prefer constructing personal AI infrastructure, not using public cloud services. The company has domestic institutions as its major clients and recorded a revenue of 312.4 million yuan in 2024.
Strategic Investment Plans:
As outlined in the prospectus of the company, Zhipu will use 70% of the IPO proceeds to invest in the research and development of general-purpose large AI models. This is a notable level of R and D investment and can be taken to mean that the company is focused on competing with global AI champions such as OpenAI Inc. and Anthropic PBC despite the obstacles of US export controls on access to high-technology semiconductor wiring.
Broader Market Context:
The listing of Zhipu is in the backdrop of the emerging wave of Chinese semiconductor and AI firms aiming to be publicly financed. The time frame is similar to several other major debuts in the industry:
Associate Investment Director at Fidelity International, Minyue Liu wrote that this activity itself is a sign of strong investor interest given that China is still building domestic AI potential and broader technology leadership. Nonetheless, she warned that “enthusiasm about investors has had an unremitting debate on the risk of an AI market bubble.
