A normal view of the Baidu brand is seen on the Shanghai New Expo Heart throughout the World Synthetic Intelligence Convention 2025 in Shanghai, China, on July 28, 2025.
Ying Tang | Nurphoto | Getty Pictures
Hong Kong-listed shares of Baidu surged greater than 7% Monday on experiences that its synthetic intelligence chip unit Kunlunxin is concentrating on an preliminary public providing within the metropolis, which might worth its affiliate at $50 billion.
Potential buyers had been requested to purchase semiconductors price three to seven instances the worth of their meant funding in Kunlunxin’s deliberate itemizing, The Data reported Sunday, citing two sources aware of the matter.
Baidu confidentially filed an inventory software for Kunlunxin on the Hong Kong Inventory Alternate at the beginning of the yr, although providing particulars, together with dimension and construction, had been undecided then.
Kunlunxin chips have drawn curiosity from ByteDance, the proprietor of TikTok, in line with an earlier Reuters report citing sources.
Based in 2011, Kunlunxin primarily provides chips to its mum or dad firm Baidu. Whereas Baidu retains a controlling stake, the corporate operates independently and has broadened its scope to exterior gross sales over the previous two years.
The report comes as China accelerates efforts to strengthen its place within the more and more aggressive AI sector.
“Regardless of Chinese language progress, the US stays for now forward within the race for dominance over the so-called synthetic intelligence {hardware} stack – the assets and tools, particularly semiconductors, wanted to run AI fashions,” in line with a report by Brussels-based financial assume tank Bruegel.
Nevertheless, the assume tank additionally famous that “the indicators of Chinese language catch-up are actual,” citing components resembling an open-sourced toolkit with a state-backed contributor pipeline and a big sufficient home market that would buoy the ecosystem by its immature section.
