Catenaa, Tuesday, July 01, 2025- Two Chinese AI chip startups are seeking to raise a combined $1.65 billion in initial public offerings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to boost local demand.
Beijing-based Moore Threads plans to raise $1.12 billion, while Shanghai-based MetaX seeks $530 million, according to their IPO prospectuses filed on Monday.
Their fundraising plans underscore growing efforts by Chinese chipmakers to capitalise on Beijing’s push to develop domestic champions in graphics processing units (GPUs), which are crucial for AI development.
Developing domestic chip champions has become increasingly urgent for Beijing, as the US tightens export restrictions, with the latest rules implemented in April banning Nvidia’s H20 chips, one of its most popular chips, from being shipped to China.
The US has also imposed restrictions since last year that prevent Chinese AI chip designers from accessing advanced global foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing for producing cutting-edge semiconductors.
Moore Threads and MetaX both cited US sanctions as a major risk to their development, but also emphasised that the restrictions could create significant market opportunities.
“US restrictions on high-end GPU exports to China are prompting Chinese companies to accelerate domestic substitution processes,” Moore Threads said. The company was added to the US Entity List in late 2023 and is barred from partnering with TSMC.
Both companies were founded in 2020 by executives who previously worked at major US chip firms.
MetaX was founded by former AMD employees, including Chairman Chen Weiliang, who previously served as the US chipmaker’s global head of GPU product line design.
Moore Threads was established by former Nvidia employees, including Chairman Zhang Jianzhong, who previously held the role of general manager for the AI chip giant’s China operations.
The two firms compete with a growing roster of domestic rivals, including Huawei, Cambricon, Hygon and other startups.
