China's major artificial intelligence companies rush toward the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

China’s artificial intelligence sector is moving en masse toward financial markets. DeepSeek, the startup that shook the global AI industry last year, is raising at least $12 billion ahead of a possible stock market listing, according to market sources cited by Reuters and Bloomberg.

Moonshot is moving along the same path, preparing a listing in Hong Kong after reaching a valuation of $50 billion. Further along in the process is Kling AI, a subsidiary of the Kuaishou group, which has already selected the investment banks for its stock market debut. According to Chinese sources cited by Sina, Kling AI could list in Hong Kong as early as next year, with an estimated fundraising of at least $1 billion and the support of CICC, Goldman Sachs and UBS as the banks handling the operation.

Providing context for this rush toward the markets is a figure cited by the Chinese press and attributed to a Bloomberg Intelligence report: the United States’ technological lead over China in artificial intelligence has reportedly fallen to a historic low of 3%. If confirmed, this figure helps explain why investors are looking with growing interest at the listings of Chinese companies in the sector: a technological gap perceived as increasingly narrow makes the growth prospects of these companies more attractive in the eyes of the markets.

The three operations — DeepSeek, Moonshot, Kling AI — illustrate different stages of the same phenomenon: DeepSeek is still seeking private capital before a possible move to the stock market, Moonshot has already set Hong Kong as its destination market, and Kling AI has already selected the institutions that will handle its placement. This sequence indicates how firmly Hong Kong’s capital market is establishing itself as the reference venue for major Chinese artificial intelligence companies seeking a listing.

The figure of a 3% remaining technological lead, if confirmed in the coming weeks by other sources, will likely become the benchmark against which the race between the United States and China in artificial intelligence is measured.