In January, MiniMax and Zhipu AI rang the bell on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising a combined total of over $1.1 billion. The market offered little applause at the time — both companies were posting heavy losses, their valuation logic was hard to pin down, and OpenAI hadn't even gone public yet.
Three months later, looking back — MiniMax has surged 470% from its issue price, and Zhipu AI has climbed 570%.
Technology IPOs on the Hong Kong exchange this year have already hit a five-year high.
The Fundamentals of the Two Companies
First, the numbers:
| Metric | MiniMax | Zhipu AI |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Revenue | $79 million (+159% YoY) | $104.8 million (+132%) |
| 2025 Net Loss | $250 million (adjusted) | $680 million |
| Overseas Revenue Share | 70% | Domestic-focused |
| IPO Funds Raised | $619 million | $560 million |
| First-Day Gain | +109% | +13% |
| Current Gain (Since IPO) | +470% | +570% |
Both companies are deeply unprofitable, yet their share prices have multiplied four or five times. This suggests the market is buying not current profits, but the long-term story of this sector.
MiniMax's 70% overseas revenue share is a critical figure. Its main markets are Singapore and the United States, where it has built a user base through the Hailuo AI video generation tool, competing directly with Kling and Sora. Zhipu AI, by contrast, primarily serves Chinese state-owned enterprises and financial institutions — the two companies follow very different paths.
Moonshot Trails Behind
After the IPOs of MiniMax and Zhipu AI, the valuation trajectory of Moonshot (Kimi's parent company) has been interesting:
- End of 2024: $4.3 billion
- January 2026: Completed over $700 million in funding, valuation reaching $10 billion
- March 2026: Bloomberg reported it is considering a Hong Kong IPO, targeting a valuation of $18 billion
In three months, the valuation has more than quadrupled.
The direct catalyst is OpenClaw. After this open-source AI agent platform exploded in popularity, Moonshot quickly launched a Kimi Claw version, reportedly generating sales in its launch month that exceeded total revenue for all of 2025. Alibaba and Baidu are also pushing toward OpenClaw deployment, and the entire Chinese AI agent market has suddenly heated up.
But Moonshot has its own risks. Reports earlier this year showed that Kimi's monthly active users fell from a peak of 36 million in October 2024 to 10-15 million, a decline of over 50%. After DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Baidu caught up, the differentiation Kimi once built on long-context capabilities has blurred.
A surging valuation alongside user attrition — that combination is hard to manage.
Why the Rush to Hong Kong
Chinese AI companies are choosing the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for reasons beyond proximity.
First, the U.S. market is increasingly difficult. Zhipu AI was placed on a U.S. export restriction list in January, and Washington's stance toward Chinese AI companies is becoming clearer. Against this backdrop, many companies are voluntarily abandoning the Nasdaq option.
Second, the Hong Kong exchange changed its rules. In 2023, the HKEX introduced Chapter 18C, allowing unprofitable technology companies to list. This effectively opened a door for early-stage AI companies, letting them access public markets without waiting for their finances to turn positive.
Third, they are queuing up alongside robotics companies. It's not just AI companies — Unitree Robotics is also applying for a $420 million Hong Kong IPO. The HKEX is becoming the preferred listing destination for Chinese technology companies.
Jefferies analyst Mohit Kumar put it directly:
"We believe China is the biggest winner in this technology war — both in terms of valuation and the speed of AI adoption."
OpenAI Is Still Waiting
Speaking of OpenAI — it plans to list on Nasdaq in Q4 this year, targeting a valuation of over $1 trillion. Anthropic has not yet announced an IPO timeline.
Chinese AI companies have already moved ahead of them. MiniMax doubled on its first trading day, and Zhipu AI has held steady, with their current share prices around five and six times their IPO prices, respectively.
Whether this path proves smooth is still too early to say. But at least this much is clear: Chinese AI companies have entered public markets ahead of their U.S. counterparts, and so far, they haven't fallen below their issue prices.
That fact alone says something.
Sources: Blazing hot IPOs, an AI agent craze, and a new word for 'token': Here's what's happening in the world of Chinese AI (Fortune); CocoLoop, China's MiniMax, Zhipu AI beat OpenAI to IPO (Rest of World); MiniMax doubles in Hong Kong debut, marking yet another Chinese AI listing (CNBC); After Raising $500M: How Far Is Dark Side of the Moon from the Real "Safe Zone"? (36Kr); Chinese AI Firm Moonshot Aims for $18 Billion Valuation (PYMNTS)