Alibaba-backed AI startup Moonshot raises valuation to $500 million: sources

BEIJING — An Alibaba– The AI-backed startup is currently valued at $4.8 billion in a new round of funding, two people with knowledge of the deal said, just weeks after it was valued at $4.3 billion.

Moonshot AI is the company behind it Kimi chatbotit became popular in China a few months before DeepSeek was released last year.

Since Moonshot the previous December, competing Chinese AI companies — Zhipu and MiniMax – rose later It became public in Hong Kong.

Sources told CNBC that Moonshot is closing a funding round that values ​​it at least $500 million more than the December round. Sources said the round is likely to close soon due to high demand.

Both have asked to remain anonymous when discussing personal information. Moonshot AI did not respond to a request for comment as this article was live.

Sources added that the company could be valued even higher in subsequent rounds due to increased interest in Chinese AI IPO candidates.

Chinese AI companies have developed rapidly, especially since AI chatbots such as US OpenAI ChatGPT are not officially available in mainland China.

Beijing restricts access to many US Internet services, and American companies have faced growing restrictions from the White House on doing business with China.

The previous funding round was announced on December 31. IDG, Alibaba and Tencent were involved, according to Chinese financial news outlet LatePost.

Moonshot AI has not commented on any plans for an IPO.

Zhipu, listed under the name Knowledge Atlas, was worth $13 billion as of Monday’s close, according to Wind Information. According to the data, the value of MiniMax was 15.2 billion dollars.