China’s Moonshot AI raises US$500 million in latest funding round: report

Chinese artificial intelligence unicorn Moonshot AI has raised US$500 million in its recent Series C funding round, according to a report, as start-up rivals MiniMax Group and Zhipu AI gear up for their initial public offerings (IPOs).

Moonshot AI, developer of the highly lauded Kimi AI models, saw IDG Capital lay out US$150 million to lead the latest financing round, with existing stakeholders Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings also participating, Chinese technology news outlet LatePost reported on Wednesday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The fresh injection of capital pushed Moonshot AI’s valuation to US$4.3 billion, according to the report. The company now holds more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) in cash reserves, LatePost reported, citing an internal letter by founder and CEO Yang Zhilin dated Wednesday.

That financial war chest helped explain why Moonshot AI did not pursue a public listing like fellow “AI tigers” MiniMax and Zhipu AI.

The Beijing-based company declined to comment on the report.