Baidu is preparing to take its AI chip unit public, and the numbers involved suggest this isn’t a modest side project. Kunlunxin, the subsidiary in question, is targeting a $50 billion valuation for its Hong Kong IPO, a figure that would represent one of the most ambitious tech listings to come out of China in recent memory.
To put that in perspective, Kunlunxin raised funds at a valuation of roughly $3 billion in 2025. Going from $3 billion to a $50 billion target in the span of a year is the kind of markup that would make even the frothiest Silicon Valley pitch deck blush.
From internal project to IPO candidate
Kunlunxin, formally known as Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., started life around 2012 as an internal initiative inside Baidu. The original purpose was straightforward: build chips that could handle the company’s own AI workloads.
That internal tool eventually grew legs. The subsidiary expanded beyond serving its parent company and began supplying external clients, including Tencent, one of China’s largest tech conglomerates.
