Baidu (HKEX: 09888) subsidiary Kunlun Chip, an AI chip company, plans to list in Hong Kong while simultaneously advancing its STAR Market listing guidance. Market sources indicate a target valuation of $50 billion; less than 12 months ago, in its Series D round, Kunlun Chip was valued at approximately $3 billion. The valuation has surged nearly 16x in less than a year, and has grown about 25x compared to its initial spin-off valuation.
Kunlun Chip's Series D valuation was about $3 billion, with a Hong Kong listing target valuation of $50 billion
According to reports, Kunlun Chip's Series D round less than 12 months ago valued it at approximately $3 billion; market sources suggest the target valuation for the Hong Kong listing is as high as $50 billion, a nearly 16x increase in less than a year, and about 25x growth compared to the initial spin-off valuation.
Kunlun Chip was spun off internally from Baidu five years ago, initially as an "FPGA AI accelerator" R&D project, originally launched to solve the computing cost issues of Baidu's search business. This target valuation has already surpassed Baidu's total market capitalization in both US stocks (BIDU) and Hong Kong stocks (09888), sparking heated discussions in the capital market.
P800 chip delivers FP16 compute of 345 TFLOPS, over twice that of Nvidia H20
According to reports, the key specifications of Kunlun Chip's main P800 chip are as follows:
FP16 compute: 345 TFLOPS (over twice that of Nvidia's China-specific H20 chip)
Memory specifications: 20-50% higher than similar mainstream products
Architecture positioning: "XPU" architecture, specifically designed for AI large model training and inference, not a general-purpose GPU
Actual deployment: A single machine equipped with 8 P800 chips can smoothly run top-tier models such as DeepSeek-R1 or V3 with 670 billion parameters
Deployment scale: Baidu has lit up several computing clusters in Ningxia and other locations, reaching tens of thousands or even 30,000 cards
Revenue from external customers surpasses internal supply to Baidu; China Mobile's AI computing procurement orders reach billions of yuan
According to investment institution assessments, Kunlun Chip's current revenue structure shows that the proportion contributed by external customers has surpassed internal supply to Baidu, completing the transformation from a "cost center" to a "profit center." External customers include central state-owned enterprises and financial institutions such as China Mobile, China Merchants Bank, State Grid, as well as tech companies like Tencent and ByteDance (reportedly evaluating or purchasing).
In China Mobile's AI inference chip procurement case, Kunlun Chip secured a very high share in the CUDA-like ecosystem segment, with order sizes reaching billions of yuan.
P800 is still manufactured by Samsung on a 7nm process; M100 and M300 plan to go fully domestic and self-developed
According to reports, Kunlun Chip's current main chip, the P800, is reportedly still manufactured by Samsung using a 7nm process, posing supply chain risks amid geopolitical tensions. In Baidu's planned chip roadmap over the next five years, the M100 and M300 series chips, expected to launch in 2026 and 2027 respectively, will pursue a "full-stack domestic self-development" path of complete autonomous control. This means they may abandon overseas advanced processes such as TSMC or Samsung and gradually eliminate CUDA compatibility; in the short term, this could impact chip performance and ecosystem compatibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kunlun Chip's target valuation, and how does it compare to parent company Baidu's market cap?
According to reports, Kunlun Chip's Hong Kong listing target valuation is reportedly as high as $50 billion, compared to its Series D valuation of about $3 billion less than 12 months ago (a nearly 16x increase); the $50 billion target valuation has already surpassed Baidu's total market cap in both US and Hong Kong stocks, creating a "subsidiary worth more than the parent" phenomenon.
What is the computing performance of Kunlun Chip's P800 chip?
According to reports, the P800 delivers FP16 compute of 345 TFLOPS, over twice that of Nvidia's China-specific H20 chip; memory specifications are 20-50% higher than similar mainstream products; a single machine equipped with 8 P800 chips can run top-tier models such as DeepSeek-R1 with 670 billion parameters.
What is Kunlun Chip's future domestic technology roadmap?
According to reports, Baidu's planned M100 (launching in 2026) and M300 (launching in 2027) series chips aim to follow a full-stack domestic self-development route, potentially abandoning overseas advanced processes such as TSMC or Samsung, and gradually eliminating CUDA compatibility.
