Chinese domestic AI giants are accelerating the return of capital to the domestic market. On the evening of June 1, known as "the first stock in global large models," Zhipu announced a notice that the board of directors recommended applying for an initial public offering (IPO) of A-shares and plans to list on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company plans to raise no more than 15 billion yuan, aiming to establish a dual listing platform of "A+H" to strengthen its long-term development capital foundation.
According to the disclosed issuance plan, Zhipu intends to issue no less than 90.988 million new A-shares and no more than 387.69 million new A-shares. If the overall underwriting option is fully exercised, the maximum scale could reach 445.843 million shares, accounting for 2% to 8% of the total share capital after the issuance. In terms of the use of raised funds, as much as 12 billion yuan (about 80% of the total) will be invested in the research and development of artificial intelligence general base large model, 2 billion yuan for the construction of a one-stop platform for large model MaaS, and the remaining 1 billion yuan will be used to supplement working capital.
Notably, this is less than five months since Zhipu listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On January 8 this year, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with an issue price of 116.20 HKD, raising approximately 4.9 billion HKD in total. By the end of May, only about 2.058 billion HKD of the Hong Kong stock fund had been used. At this time, actively rushing for the Sci-Tech Innovation Board is not due to a lack of funds, but rather to plan in advance a long-term development system jointly participated by the mainland capital market, given the high computing power and high consumption cycle in the industry. As of the closing on June 3, its Hong Kong stock price has soared to 1,462 HKD per share, with a market value of 650 billion HKD.
In terms of financial performance, Zhipu presents the typical characteristics of high growth and high R&D investment. In 2025, the company's revenue reached 724 million yuan, increasing by 131.9% year-on-year; R&D expenses amounted to 3.18 billion yuan, an increase of 44.9% year-on-year. Although it suffered a loss of 4.718 billion yuan (adjusted net loss of 3.182 billion yuan) during the year, its commercialization self-sufficiency capability is fully recovering. In 2025, the annual recurring revenue (ARR) of its MaaS platform was approximately 1.7 billion yuan, growing 60 times within 12 months. In the first quarter of this year, despite the industry's price war, Zhipu reversed the trend and increased API call pricing by 83% compared to the end of last year, while call volume still achieved a 400% explosive growth.
Zhipu's "returning to A-shares" is not an isolated case. On May 29, another large model unicorn MiniMax had signed a tutoring agreement and started the A-share IPO tutoring; Jiebu Star also dismantled the red chip structure and planned to proceed with the Hong Kong IPO. This round of AI companies collectively bringing pricing power back to the domestic market is attributed to the reform of the STAR Market in June 2025, which included artificial intelligence in the fifth set of listing criteria, allowing unprofitable cutting-edge technology enterprises to list. Large model companies are moving away from the old path where core pricing was completed overseas in the past internet era, and instead are accepting the new examination of the mainland capital market through real commercial applications, API subscription curves, and ecological links.
