Moonshot AI – creator of Kimi K3 model – has filed for Hong Kong IPO: sources

Moonshot AI, a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up renowned for its Kimi K3 model, has submitted a confidential application for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, according to two individuals familiar with the situation, as the company seeks public market funding to fuel its rapid growth. The Beijing-based firm aimed to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as early as the first quarter of 2027, the sources revealed to the South China Morning Post, declining to disclose their identities due to the sensitive nature of the information.

Regulatory approvals and prevailing market conditions would influence the exact timeline, they added. Moonshot declined to comment on market rumors or speculation when contacted by the SCMP on Thursday. The firm is also planning a final financing round ahead of the IPO, potentially valuing the company at approximately US$50 billion, the sources disclosed.

The IPO and financing strategy highlight the company's ambition to expedite fundraising as China's AI sector intensifies competition with leading US developers. Moonshot gained global attention in July upon unveiling the Kimi K3 model, the world's largest open-weight AI model boasting over 2.8 trillion parameters, indicating a high level of sophistication.

The release of K3 sent ripples across the US AI industry, as the model matches the performance of top proprietary systems in Silicon Valley while offering a more affordable price point compared to Chinese open-source models. Moonshot's Kimi K3 model achieved top rankings on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, alongside Z.ai's GLM-5.3.

The model also demonstrated cost-effectiveness, with a per million output token price that was 50% lower than OpenAI's 5.6 Sol and 70% lower than Anthropic's Claude Fable 5. Moonshot's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has been surging since early this year, with projections indicating a potential US$1 billion ARR by year-end, up from an estimated US$400 million to $500 million as of mid-2026, according to a July report by Nomura Securities.

The acceleration in growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of Moonshot's developer platform, as noted by Nomura. Moonshot is also eyeing revenue-sharing agreements with international cloud service providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, which could see these platforms share up to 30% of revenue from hosting its Kimi K3 model, a Reuters report from last month stated.

Moonshot is not the sole Chinese AI firm eyeing a public listing. Other competitors, including Hangzhou-based DeepSeek and Shanghai-based StepFun, are reportedly preparing for IPOs. DeepSeek is reportedly planning to list on Shanghai's Star Market while also conducting a pre-IPO funding round, as per the SCMP's report last month.