Baidu Shares Jump After Kunlunxin IPO Filing Reports

Hong Kong-listed Baidu shares climbed more than 7% after reports that Kunlunxin, the company’s AI chip unit, had confidentially submitted an IPO application in Hong Kong. The unit’s reported valuation is about $50 billion.

The filings were reportedly made at the start of the year and offering details, including size and structure, had not been finalised at that stage. Coverage of the planned float indicated prospective investors were being asked to purchase semiconductors worth three to seven times the value of the stake they intended to buy.

Founded in 2011, Kunlunxin supplies AI processors primarily to Baidu and operates as an independent affiliate while Baidu retains a controlling stake. Over the past two years Kunlunxin has expanded sales to customers beyond its parent company.

A Hong Kong listing at the reported valuation would be among the largest offerings for an AI-focused semiconductor business in the region.

LSEG data show Chinese technology companies raised about $3.1 billion through stock market listings between January and June 18, more than five times the amount raised in the same period a year earlier. Regulatory filings indicate nearly 50 companies have submitted IPO applications across the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, together seeking at least 126.1 billion yuan ($18.7 billion).

Among planned offerings, memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies is preparing a 29.5 billion yuan IPO in Shanghai. If completed, that deal would be the largest domestic listing this year.

A report by Brussels-based think tank Bruegel wrote, “Despite Chinese progress, the United States remains for now ahead in the race for dominance over the so-called artificial intelligence hardware stack, the resources and equipment, especially semiconductors, needed to run AI models.” The report added, “the signs of Chinese catch-up are real,” pointing to an open-sourced toolkit supported by a state-backed contributor pipeline and a large domestic market that can sustain early-stage AI development.

Market participants expect a Kunlunxin IPO, if it proceeds, to increase activity in China’s technology capital markets and to attract further investor interest in AI and semiconductor businesses.