At a time when the craze of AI tools such as ChatGPT is growing day by day, Google backed Mobvoi, a Chinese artificial intelligence company and smart device maker, is already planning for its IPO.
It has selected banks for a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about $200 million to $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter.?Beijing-based Mobvoi was founded by ex-google employee Zhifei Li in 2012, with the aim to define the next generation of human-machine interaction.
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The Beijing-based ChatGPT rival developer firm, which last month debuted its own AI large language model, is working with China International Capital Corp. and China Merchants Bank International to prepare for the first-time share sale. The IPO could take place as soon as this year.
Considerations are preliminary and details of the offering such as size and timing could change, as per Bloomberg report.
With the early success of OpenAI's chatGPT, AI companies in China are rushing to roll out their own answers to ChatGPT and seeking more funding to fuel the sector¡¯s growth. Beijing¡¯s top internet overseer has published draft guidelines that would mandate a security review of generative AI services such as Mobvoi¡¯s Xulie Houzi platform as well as models from Baidu Inc. and SenseTime Group Inc.
Founded in 2012, Google-backed Mobvoi three years later attracted the US tech giant¡¯s first direct investment in China since it withdrew its search engine from the country in 2010. Mobvoi is known to consumers as a maker of products including smartwatches and smart speakers, its website shows. Its AI software is used in services including finance, telecommunications and senior care.
As per the report, along with a strategic partnership with Alphabet, Mobvoi also drew Volkswagen AG as an investor and partner via a 2017 funding round and the forming of a joint venture. It also counts Sequoia and Zhenfund as backers. Mobvoi has roughly 700 employees and has offices in Seattle and Taipei in addition to its headquarters in Beijing, the website mentions.
More than ago,?Chinese e-commerce giant?Alibaba Group?had announced that it is planning to split its mammoth $220 billion empire into six units?and explore fundraising or listing for most of them (through IPO).?The?big announcement had come just a day after Alibaba founder Jack Ma returned?home from a year-long stay abroad.
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