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

Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI, known for its leading AI model Kimi K3, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, according to sources. The Beijing-based company aims to leverage public markets to fuel its rapid expansion. The firm targets a Hong Kong listing as early as the first quarter of 2027, pending regulatory approvals and market conditions.

Moonshot is also seeking a final financing round ahead of the IPO, which may value the company at around US$50 billion. The IPO and financing plans demonstrate the company's aspiration to accelerate fundraising as China's AI labs intensify competition with top US AI developers. Moonshot gained attention in July with the release of its Kimi K3 model, a world's largest open-weight AI model boasting 2.8 trillion parameters.

The model's high performance and lower price compared to leading US models have sent shockwaves across the AI industry. Moonshot's ARR is projected to reach US$1 billion by the end of the year, up from an estimated US$400 million to US$500 million as of mid-2026. The company is also exploring revenue-sharing deals with overseas cloud service providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.