Baidu said its AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange, submitting the paperwork on January 1. The filing did not spell out how much Kunlunxin wants to raise, or give any timing for pricing and debut.
Kunlunxin designs accelerators used in data‑centre servers and general‑purpose AI computing, supporting Baidu’s search, cloud and generative AI services. The business was carved out so Baidu could ring‑fence its fast‑growing chip operations from its slower ad‑driven core.
Analysts see Kunlunxin as one of a handful of Chinese players capable of building domestic alternatives to Nvidia’s high‑end AI chips. Alongside names such as Huawei and Cambricon, Kunlunxin is expected to sit at the centre of Beijing’s campaign to reduce reliance on US technology.
Why Baidu is spinning off its AI chip arm
Baidu has leaned on Kunlunxin to feed the soaring compute needs of its Ernie AI models, cloud workloads and autonomous‑driving platforms. Spinning off the unit via a separate listing is meant to surface its value and give it a direct route to fresh capital.
The company has argued that a carve‑out will sharpen Kunlunxin’s profile with specialist chip investors and partners, while giving it more flexibility to tap both equity and debt markets. It also lets Baidu highlight the chip business’s growth potential at a time when traditional online advertising has been under pressure.
Citi said the decision to move now was earlier than expected, even if the listing itself had long been on the radar. Jefferies, meanwhile, pointed to Baidu’s push into AI, chips and self‑driving as key levers to offset the slowdown in its legacy operations.
Valuation bets and market reaction
Jefferies analysts estimate Kunlunxin could be valued between 16 billion and 23 billion US dollars once listed, reflecting both sector momentum and China’s policy tailwinds for AI hardware. That range implies a substantial uplift on earlier private‑market talk that had put Kunlunxin at around 3 billion dollars.
Baidu’s Hong Kong‑listed shares jumped after the filing, climbing about 7.5% to HK$141.30 and beating the Hang Seng Tech Index’s roughly 3–4% gain on the day. Baidu’s stock had already risen close to 60% over 2025 as investors rotated back into Chinese AI names.
Broker notes suggest the planned spin‑off prompted target‑price upgrades, with Jefferies lifting its Hong Kong target for Baidu to HK$176. The expectation is that a successful Kunlunxin IPO could unlock a clearer sum‑of‑the‑parts story and narrow Baidu’s discount to global AI peers.
Hong Kong’s AI IPO pipeline gets crowded
Kunlunxin is lining up just as Hong Kong rides a powerful IPO wave led by Chinese AI and chipmakers. AI chip designer Shanghai Biren Technology’s recent debut saw its shares soar, with one session showing gains of more than 80–90% and raising about HK$5.58 billion.
Generative‑AI startup MiniMax Group is targeting up to HK$4.19 billion in a Hong Kong float, selling about 25 million shares with pricing up to HK$165 apiece. Knowledge Atlas Technology, better known as Zhipu AI, is aiming for roughly HK$4.35 billion and a valuation in the 50‑billion‑Hong‑Kong‑dollar band.
This rush helped make late 2025 Hong Kong’s busiest IPO period since 2019, with Deloitte and other trackers counting more than a hundred new listings and tens of billions of dollars raised. Many of those deals have been in AI, semiconductors and other “national champion” tech segments that map closely to Beijing’s industrial policy.
What Kunlunxin’s listing means for China’s chip ambitions
Washington’s strict export controls on Nvidia’s most advanced data‑centre GPUs have turbocharged demand for local AI chips, opening a window for firms like Kunlunxin. Analysts say Nvidia’s grip on China’s AI accelerator market effectively broke in 2025, as buyers pivoted towards domestic suppliers and more modest foreign options.
Kunlunxin’s IPO would add another pillar to China’s effort to build a full, homegrown AI computing stack – from data‑centre silicon and inference accelerators to large‑model software. A successful listing could also give Baidu more firepower to invest in next‑generation chips while keeping capital allocation for its cloud and robotaxi units separate.
For Hong Kong, Kunlunxin’s float is another signal that the city wants to be the primary fund‑raising venue for Chinese AI leaders as they scale. For global investors, it is a fresh chance to gain direct exposure to China’s AI hardware build‑out, while navigating geopolitical risk that still hangs over the sector.
(Source: marketscreener, reuters, businesstimes)
