Seeking cash for AI, China’s Z.ai eyes new US$5b fundraising push after July share sale

The Chinese AI developer is courting more backers as it scales its models and infrastructure amid intensifying competition Z.ai, the Chinese artificial intelligence model developer listed in Hong Kong, is seeking to raise about HK$15.7 billion (US$2 billion) through a placement of roughly 21.97 million new H shares at HK$714 apiece, according to a company filing on Sunday. The company also announced a 20.14 billion yuan (US$3 billion) convertible-bond sale, according to its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The fundraising moves, which could help the company raise around US$5 billion, come as the company’s 60-day lock-up period following its July placement expires. The July placement raised HK$31.4 billion from the sale of 19.78 million shares at HK$1,588 each, shortly after a six-month lock-up on 25.68 million initial public offering shares held by cornerstone investors expired. The company is also pursuing a listing on Shanghai’s Star Market. The firm has completed regulatory tutoring and secured shareholder approval for an offering targeting up to 15 billion yuan, though no application has been publicly accepted yet. Z.ai’s repeated tapping of capital markets underscores the heavy costs of developing frontier AI models.

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