Alibaba has outlined plans to take its semiconductor subsidiary T-Head public in Hong Kong, announcing late Tuesday that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange would permit the proposed spinoff. The Chinese technology and e-commerce company said the share offering still requires approval from the exchange and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The announcement did not specify when the offering would take place or how large it would be. Alibaba disclosed that it had submitted a confidential application for T-Head’s Hong Kong listing on Sept. 11. Its Hong Kong-listed shares were trading 1% lower on Wednesday morning, bringing their decline since the start of the year to approximately 29%.
The proposed listing follows Alibaba’s introduction in late September of the Zhenwu V900, its next-generation artificial intelligence chip. Alibaba said the new semiconductor provides three times the performance of the Zhenwu M890, which was released in May. That performance comparison was the company’s own assessment.
Alibaba and Huawei are among the Chinese companies working on domestically developed semiconductors to support artificial intelligence. Those efforts are taking place as the United States expands restrictions affecting China’s access to chips. The development of homegrown processors comes alongside continued investor interest in the companies building AI technology.
Questions about Alibaba’s access to restricted hardware have also drawn attention. In May, short seller Culper Research alleged that Alibaba obtained restricted Nvidia chips through indirect financing of entities in Southeast Asia. Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegation.
Elsewhere in the AI sector, U.S. company Anthropic provided additional details about its planned initial public offering in an updated filing Tuesday. It said it would offer 825 million shares at a proposed price of $70 to $78 each. People familiar with the details told CNBC that Nasdaq trading was expected to start on Nov. 19. They spoke anonymously because they lacked authorization to discuss the matter publicly.
Chinese technology shares have lagged their U.S. counterparts despite the enthusiasm generated last year by DeepSeek’s AI breakthroughs. Reports this month said Baidu had postponed a listing for its AI chip business Kunlunxin, while Chinese memory chip producer YMTC had also delayed its listing. Neither company immediately answered requests for comment.
The plans come as Chinese financial regulators have stepped up their examination of technology IPOs and money flowing into the sector over the past few months. Alibaba’s filing leaves both the timetable and the proposed size of T-Head’s offering undisclosed while the required approvals remain pending.
