The developer of the Kimi chatbot has held early talks with prospective investors to raise more than $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The discussions have begun just as Moonshot is on the verge of closing a round led by Meituan that valued the AI firm at $20 billion after the investment, the people said. If Moonshot hits its latest funding target, that would mark a seven-fold increase in capitalization from December, when the startup was valued at just over $4 billion.

The developer of the Kimi chatbot has held early talks with prospective investors to raise more than $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The discussions have begun…

Kimi developer Moonshot AI seeks $2bn at a $30bn valuation, its third round in six months. DeepSeek wants $59bn. Zhipu sits at $80bn. China's AI funding race is accelerating.