(Yicai) Jan. 8 — Shares of Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock, known as Zhipu AI, soared on their debut trading day in Hong Kong, marking a significant milestone as the first public offering of a large language model developer globally. The stock closed 12.4 percent higher at HKD130.60 (USD16.76), resulting in a market capitalization of HKD57.5 billion (USD7.4 billion).
The initial public offering attracted considerable interest, being oversubscribed 1,159.5 times by Hong Kong investors and 15.3 times by international investors. The offering raised over HKD4.3 billion (USD552 million), with 11 cornerstone investors collectively purchasing nearly HKD3 billion (USD381.4 million) in shares.
In its prospectus, Zhipu AI outlined that approximately 70 percent of the net proceeds from the IPO, after listing expenses, will be allocated to research and development of general-purpose artificial intelligence models. An additional 10 percent will be directed toward enhancing its Model-as-a-Service platform, which includes advancements in foundation models, training and inference tools, and infrastructure developments.
Founder and Chief Scientist Tang Jie emphasized the company’s vision, stating in a letter to employees, “Enabling machines to think as humans has always been Zhipu AI’s vision and aspiration. Becoming the world’s first listed company focused on LLMs reflects the market’s recognition of its technological and commercial value, allowing it to make the impossible possible.”
According to Tang, the company is preparing to launch its latest large language model, GLM-5, which promises to enhance AI capabilities for practical applications through scaling and technological innovations.
Zhipu AI began its journey in the Knowledge Engineering Laboratory of Tsinghua University‘s computer science and technology department, where Tang serves as a professor. The company’s core business encompasses the research and development of artificial general intelligence foundation models, alongside the operation of its MaaS platform. It is dedicated to creating a new generation of cognitive AI models and providing comprehensive services for institutional clients, developers, and individual users.
The company has seen its losses widen as it invests heavily in R&D, reporting a net loss of CNY2.4 billion (USD327.8 million) in the first half of last year. However, operating revenue surged by 325 percent to CNY190.9 million (USD26.5 million). Projections indicate a loss of about CNY3 billion (USD411.2 million) for 2024, while its annual compound growth rate for income is estimated at 130 percent from 2022 to 2024.
Notably, Zhipu AI is the first among the so-called “six AI tigers” in China to go public, with MiniMax expected to start trading in Hong Kong tomorrow. The remaining four companies in this group are Moonshot AI, 01.AI, Baichuan Intelligence, and Stepfun.
As the AI landscape continues to evolve, Zhipu AI’s public offering reflects the growing recognition of the commercial value in artificial intelligence technologies. The success of its IPO could pave the way for further investments and innovations in the sector, underscoring the potential for AI to influence a wide range of industries in the near future.
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