Moonshot AI, the Beijing-based developer of the Kimi large language model, has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering and is seeking roughly $3 billion in proceeds, people familiar with the matter have said. Latest private fundraising values the company at about $50 billion, below reported valuations for peers such as DeepSeek and Z.AI, after cumulative capital raised surpassed $5.5 billion with backers including Alibaba, Tencent, IDG Capital, HSG, Meituan, China Mobile and CPE. LatePost first reported the filing; Goldman Sachs, China International Capital Corporation and Deutsche Bank have been identified as involved, though the banks have declined or not answered comment requests, and Moonshot has not publicly confirmed the move. Timing and size hinge on regulatory clearance and market conditions. Before applying, it dismantled its offshore red-chip structure and shifted its legal domicile to mainland China. Founded in 2023 by Yang Zhilin, who studied at Carnegie Mellon University and Tsinghua University, the firm would place the deal among Hong Kong’s largest IPOs in recent years if it proceeds. Kimi K3, launched in July 2026 with 2.8 trillion parameters as the largest open-weight model by that measure, has driven demand that lifted annual recurring revenue to $300 million in June from $200 million in April. Moonshot is negotiating revenue-sharing arrangements with Microsoft, Amazon and Google that would let U.S. clouds host the model, while U.S. officials examine allegations it used restricted Nvidia chips and distilled capabilities from Anthropic’s models—claims Moonshot has disputed on distillation—with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flagging possible trade-restriction listing. Hong Kong listings raised $41.2 billion through mid-August, more than double a year earlier and up 142% year on year, led by Chinese technology issuers, as Anthropic separately prepares a potential public debut targeted for around October.