Tencent-backed AI chipmaker Enflame's shares surged 188% in their Shanghai debut, giving Enflame a market cap of $26.3B, after raising ~$910M in an IPO (Ann Cao/South China Morning Post)

Enflame Technology, a Tencent-backed AI chipmaker, saw its shares surge 188% in its Shanghai debut, giving the company a market capitalization of $26.3 billion. The company's shares opened at 410 yuan, up from its issue price of 142.18 yuan. According to the South China Morning Post, Enflame raised about $910 million by selling 43.04 million shares.

The strong market response highlights Enflame's role in Beijing's push for domestic chips amid US export restrictions. The company is one of a group of Chinese AI chip startups, sometimes called the "four little GPU dragons," alongside Moore Threads, MetaX, and Biren Technology. The New Straits Times reported that the stock opened at 410 yuan and rose to as high as 475 yuan before slipping back to around 430 yuan.

Enflame's debut adds to a rush of listings by Chinese companies seeking to supply computing chips for artificial intelligence, as Beijing pushes for home-grown alternatives to US suppliers such as Nvidia. The retail portion of its initial public offering was oversubscribed by 4,073 times, with about 7 million online investors submitting orders for 42.1 billion shares, according to the South China Morning Post.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, New Straits Times, South China Morning Post, SCMP Tech — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.