Dec 5 (Reuters) - Kunlunxin, the AI chip unit of Chinese internet search giant Baidu ( BIDU ), is planning an initial public offering in Hong Kong, having recently completed a fundraising that valued it at 21 billion yuan ($2.97 billion), three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The move comes as China pushes to develop domestic alternatives to U.S. semiconductors amid escalating Washington export restrictions on advanced chips, and follows several other Chinese AI chip companies eyeing public market debuts.

In a sign of massive appetite for AI chip stocks, on Friday Moore Threads, which makes graphics processing units (GPUs) used for artificial intelligence computing, debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange at more than five times its IPO price.

Investment materials reviewed by Reuters showed that Kunlunxin wanted to complete an IPO by early 2027. Two of the sources said the company was communicating that it aims to file a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as early as the first quarter of 2026.

Kunlunxin completed its latest funding round in the past six months, raising over 2 billion yuan from a China Mobile fund and other private investors, the two people and a third source said.

The round valued Kunlunxin at around 21 billion yuan, up from 18 billion yuan in its previous fundraising, the people said.

The sources declined to be identified as the information is not public. Baidu ( BIDU ) did not address questions about the IPO plan.

Developing domestic GPU capabilities has become critical for Beijing as the U.S. has tightened restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to China, including barring sales of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) latest chips.

Kunlunxin joins a wave of Chinese chip companies planning public listings. Following Moore Threads' listing, MetaX is expected to debut in coming weeks.

Biren Technology, which has been blacklisted by the U.S., is also planning a Hong Kong listing, Reuters reported in June.

EXPANDING BEYOND BAIDU

Founded in 2012 as an internal business unit developing AI chips for Baidu ( BIDU ), Kunlunxin has since become independently operated, though Baidu ( BIDU ) retains a controlling stake.

The company mainly supplied chips to Baidu ( BIDU ) but has gradually expanded external sales over the past two years.

Kunlunxin expects its revenue to grow to more than 3.5 billion yuan this year and to achieve break-even, according to the investment materials reviewed by Reuters.

In 2024, it booked a net loss of about 200 million yuan on revenue of around 2 billion yuan.

In 2025, over half of its revenue is expected to come from external sales, according to the first two sources.

The company's most advanced product, the P800 chip, has gained traction this year, primarily supplying data centre projects built by state-owned firms and governments.

Last month, Kunlunxin unveiled two new AI chip products: the M100, an inference-focused chip set to launch in early 2026, and the M300, capable of both training and inference, slated for early 2027.

($1 = 7.0724 Chinese yuan renminbi)