Moonshot AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence developer, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to a report from Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter. The company is seeking to raise approximately $3 billion through the listing.
The filing comes as Moonshot AI is in the midst of a funding round that values the company at $50 billion. Since 2023, the firm has reportedly raised more than $5.5 billion in total funding.
One of Moonshot AI’s primary products is the Kimi K3 model, which the company claims has 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the world’s largest open-weight model. The size of the model has reportedly strained the company's computing capacity following its July launch, driving interest in partnerships with major cloud providers.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) are in early-stage talks with Moonshot AI regarding revenue-sharing agreements for the Kimi K3 model. Reports indicate Moonshot is seeking as much as 30% of K3-related revenue. These discussions could mark the first major revenue-sharing pact between a Chinese AI developer and a major U.S. cloud provider.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is a key investor in the company. In fiscal 2024, Alibaba invested about $800 million for roughly 36% of Moonshot, implying a valuation near $2.2 billion at that time. Moonshot also has a computing agreement with Alibaba that provides access to about 20,000 Nvidia chips.
The company faces regulatory scrutiny from U.S. officials. Reports indicate U.S. officials have accused Moonshot of using restricted Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) chips and extracting capabilities from Anthropic models. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated he may add the company to a U.S. trade blacklist. Moonshot has disputed the allegation regarding distillation.
