Zhipu AI Makes History: World's First AGI Base Model Company Lists on HKEX as 02513.HK, Surging 13% on Debut

Category: Industry Trends

Excerpt:

On January 8, 2026, Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology (Zhipu AI) officially debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under ticker 02513.HK — becoming the world's first publicly listed company with AGI base models as its core business. Priced at HK$116.20 per share, it opened at HK$120 and closed at HK$131.5, up 13.17%, pushing market cap to approximately HK$579 billion. The IPO raised HK$4.35 billion amid 1,159x oversubscription, marking a watershed moment for China's AI industry and igniting global capital frenzy around frontier large models.

The global AI capital markets just witnessed a seismic shift — and it's stamped "Made in China." Zhipu AI, born from Tsinghua University's knowledge engineering lab in 2019, rang the bell at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, claiming the crown as the planet's first pure-play AGI base model company to go public. This isn't just another tech IPO; it's the opening salvo in the monetization war for foundational AI, arriving ahead of U.S. giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, and signaling that China's "AI Six Tigers" are no longer chasing — they're leading the pack.

The Numbers That Turned Heads

  • • Debut Fireworks: Opened at HK$120 (+3.3%), closed at HK$131.5 — 13.17% gain with HK$579 billion valuation.
  • • Insane Demand: Public tranche oversubscribed 1,159 times; dark pool trading previewed up to 35% premiums.
  • • War Chest Boost: Net proceeds ~HK$4.17 billion for GLM model R&D, compute infrastructure & ecosystem expansion.
  • • Star Backers Cashing In: Meituan's stake now worth HK$2.26 billion, with unrealized gains nearing HK$2 billion.

From Tsinghua Lab to Global Contender

Zhipu's journey reads like accelerated evolution, rooted in China's top academic institution and built for commercial dominance:

  1. Founded by Professor Tang Jie (chief scientist) and CEO Zhang Peng, both Tsinghua alumni focused on native Chinese AGI architectures.
  2. GLM series breakthroughs: Evolved from open-source darlings to commercial powerhouses for enterprise agents, multimodal reasoning & code generation.
  3. Ecosystem Dominance: Deep integrations with Alibaba Cloud, Huawei and state-backed funds; cumulative pre-IPO funding exceeded RMB 8.3 billion.
  4. Upcoming Bombshell: Founder Tang Jie teased GLM-5 imminent launch — promising leaps in long-context reasoning and agentic autonomy.

Industry Ripples & Oncoming Challenges

Broader Market Impact

  • • Geopolitical flex amid U.S. chip curbs — proof of China's full-stack AI sovereignty.
  • • Valuation benchmark for AGI pure-plays (20-30x revenue multiples projected).
  • • Talent magnet pulling top researchers back to China.
  • • Catalyst for Moonshot, MiniMax, Baichuan HKEX listings.

Challenges on the Horizon

  • • Sky-high compute costs for large model training.
  • • Regulatory scrutiny on data privacy & training compliance.
  • • Fierce rivalry with ByteDance's Doubao & Tencent's Hunyuan.
  • • Sustained losses amid aggressive R&D investment.

January 8, 2026, will be etched as the day AGI went public — not in Silicon Valley, but in Hong Kong, powered by Chinese innovation. Zhipu AI's triumphant debut isn't just a financial milestone; it's proof that the race to artificial general intelligence has multiple frontrunners, and China's contender just lapped the field on the capital track. As GLM-5 and beyond unfold, expect this "global large model first share" to redefine how the world values tomorrow's intelligence infrastructure.

Key IPO Metrics

  • Listing Venue: Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2513)
  • Closing Price: HK$131.5 (+13.17%)
  • Post-IPO Valuation: HK$579 billion
  • Oversubscription Rate: 1,159x
  • Flagship Product: GLM series AGI models
Tags： , , , , , , ,
FacebookXWhatsAppEmail