According to Reuters citing a June 29 report from tech media The Information, Baidu's AI chip subsidiary Kunlun Core plans to list in Hong Kong, with a target valuation of about $50 billion; potential investors are required to purchase Kunlun Core chips worth 3 to 7 times the amount of shares they subscribe for, to enhance pre-IPO order visibility. Baidu stated in January that Kunlun Core has submitted a confidential listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Baidu: Kunlun Core Submitted Confidential Listing Application to Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Baidu stated in January 2026 that Kunlun Core had submitted a confidential listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, paving the way for a spin-off and independent listing. Kunlun Core was first established in 2012 as Baidu's internal AI chip business, mainly supplying chips for Baidu's own AI and cloud businesses. It later gradually became independent, but Baidu still holds a controlling stake.
Kunlun Core's P800 has completed large-scale verification, and since 2025 has delivered multiple 10,000-card clusters. It also completed training of an important version of Wenxin 5.1 on a fully domestic cluster. In the past two years, Kunlun Core has actively expanded external sales and has begun contacting more large Chinese tech and cloud customers.
Reuters Cites Sources: Tencent Has Become a Kunlun Core Customer, ByteDance Is Considering Adoption
Reuters cited sources saying Tencent is already a Kunlun Core customer; Reuters reported earlier this month that ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) is considering using Kunlun Core chips. Potential investors are required to purchase Kunlun Core chips worth 3 to 7 times the amount of their IPO share subscriptions, to enhance pre-IPO order visibility and revenue support. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the reports, and Baidu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kunlun Core's $50 Billion Valuation Makes It One of the Most Notable AI Chip IPOs in Hong Kong in Recent Years
If it proceeds with a $50 billion valuation, Kunlun Core will become one of the most notable AI chip IPOs in the Hong Kong market in recent years. This comes against the backdrop of Beijing's continued push for self-controlled semiconductor and AI supply chains amid US-China tech competition, and the overall significant increase in activity in China's domestic tech IPO market this year.
Market sources point out that if this IPO goes through, it will test two key assumptions: whether Chinese AI chips can achieve large-scale adoption by cloud and large model customers amid restrictions on NVIDIA's high-end chips, and whether investors are willing to give Chinese domestic AI chip companies valuations close to those of global first-tier semiconductor design firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current progress of Kunlun Core's IPO plan?
Baidu stated in January 2026 that Kunlun Core had submitted a confidential listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to a Reuters report on June 29 citing The Information, the target valuation is about $50 billion; Reuters said it could not immediately verify the reports, and Baidu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Have Tencent and ByteDance adopted Kunlun Core chips?
According to sources, Tencent is already a Kunlun Core customer; ByteDance is still in the consideration stage and has not yet adopted (Reuters reported earlier this month that ByteDance is "considering").
What is the commercialization progress of Kunlun Core's P800?
Kunlun Core's P800 has completed large-scale verification, and since 2025 has delivered multiple 10,000-card clusters. It also completed training of an important version of Wenxin 5.1 on a fully domestic cluster, demonstrating actual deployment cases in large-scale AI training scenarios.
