Chinese generative artificial intelligence firm, Zhipu Technology, officially known as Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock, made a significant splash with its successful debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 8, 2026. The company, widely recognized as one of China's 'AI tigers' – a group of startups developing advanced large language models – is lauded as the first major Chinese large language model (LLM) developer and world's first public company focused on general artificial intelligence (AGI) foundational models to list publicly. Zhipu's shares saw a robust performance on its trading debut, climbing as much as 15% above its offer price of HK$116.20, and closing 12.4% to 14.4% higher. This strong investor demand underscored confidence in China's fast-growing AI sector, particularly amidst Hong Kong's efforts to reassert itself as a preferred listing venue for high-growth technology firms. The initial public offering (IPO) raised approximately $558 million (HK$4.3 billion to HK$4.35 billion). Zhipu plans to allocate a substantial 70% of these proceeds to research and development for its general-purpose large AI models, emphasizing its commitment to technological advancement. Founded in 2019 by researchers from Tsinghua University and backed by major players like Alibaba and Tencent, Zhipu reported revenues of 312.4 million yuan in 2024. Despite revenue growth, the company continues to experience net losses due to intensive R&D investments, a common characteristic of foundational AI developers. The company has been cited by OpenAI as a significant competitor, highlighting its growing international presence and capabilities despite facing geopolitical challenges, including being added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List in January last year due to alleged links with China's military, which limits its access to certain U.S. technologies. Following Zhipu's successful listing, another prominent Chinese AI 'tiger,' MiniMax, also made its Hong Kong debut on January 9, 2026, further signaling a new phase for China's AI industry in public capital markets.