Alibaba-backed startup Moonshot AI valuation up $500 million: sources

BEIJING — An Alibaba-backed AI startup is currently being valued at $4.8 billion in a fresh funding round, two people with knowledge of the deal said, just weeks after it was valued at $4.3 billion.

Moonshot AI is the company behind the Kimi chatbot, which surged in popularity in China months before DeepSeek’s release last year.

Since Moonshot’s previous funding round in December, rival Chinese AI companies — Zhipu and MiniMax — surged after going public in Hong Kong.

The sources told CNBC that Moonshot was closing a funding round that will value it at least $500 million higher than the December round. The sources said the round would likely close soon due to high demand.

Both asked to remain anonymous while discussing private information. Moonshot AI had not responded to a request for comment as this article went live.

The sources added that the company could be valued even higher in subsequent rounds that could follow, due to a surge of interest in Chinese AI IPO candidates.

Chinese AI companies have particularly boomed as U.S. AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, aren’t officially available in mainland China.

Beijing restricts access to many U.S.-based internet services, while American companies have faced growing restrictions from the White House on doing business with China.

The previous funding round was announced on Dec. 31. IDG, Alibaba and Tencent participated in it, according to Chinese financial news outlet LatePost.

Moonshot AI has not commented on any plans for an IPO.

Zhipu, listed under the name Knowledge Atlas, had a market value of $13 billion as of Monday’s close, according to Wind Information data. MiniMax was worth $15.2 billion, the data showed.