Moonshot AI is reportedly beginning discussions on a final round of fundraising in August, before listing in Hong Kong, at a valuation of nearly $50 billion.
The Chinese AI lab is likely to close a financing round that kickstarted this summer at a valuation of $31.5 billion, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday.
According to another report by the South China Morning Post, citing a deleted WeChat post by Moonshot AI's financial adviser HF Capital, the S$50 billion valuation indicated an over 11-fold surge from Moonshot's valuation at the end of 2025. It would also be a rapid jump from its $20 billion valuation after the May funding round.
Once the funding round is finalized, Moonshot plans to immediately start discussions with potential financiers about a follow-on capital-raising. This could be the final capital infusion for Moonshot ahead of its initial public offering, likely this year.
Bloomberg earlier reported that Moonshot earned $300 million of annual recurring revenue in June, a rise from $200 million in April. Since the launch of its Kimi K3 model last week, daily sales have multiplied at least six times, as per the report.
Moonshot AI did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.
US Weighs Sanctions on Chinese AI Models
The report comes as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the Trump administration is set to investigate alleged intellectual property theft by Chinese artificial intelligence models and impose sanctions if required.
Bessent termed this kind of IP theft "distillation," which refers to a method of AI training where a less competent model is developed using outputs from a more advanced model.
Earlier reports suggested that the Trump administration is eyeing restrictions on advanced Chinese AI models, a move that could strengthen and safeguard the market domination of American AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Meanwhile, CNBC commentator Jim Cramer expressed his skepticism towards Chinese tech companies and AI models, indicating that they might be a serious threat to the U.S. market if they are allowed to access U.S. corporate data.