MiniMax has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling the onset of a race among China’s generative AI startups to tap public markets.

Chinese AI startup MiniMax has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong initial public offering, targeting a valuation of over $4 billion in the float, which could happen before the end of this year, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Alibaba-backed startup Moonshot released on late Friday night its Kimi K2 model, touting performance that rivals many U.S. models.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang called China's open-source artificial intelligence a "catalyst for global progress" and hailed the country's

By Kane Wu, Liam Mo and Che Pan HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese AI startup MiniMax has filed confidentially for a Hong Kong initial public offering, targeting a valuation of over $4 billion in the flotation,

Nvidia plans to increase the supply of its H20 chips to China, aiming to strengthen its position in the lucrative Chinese technology market. This move follows the lifting of an export ban and comes as Nvidia navigates US-China trade tensions.

Data center operators in China, which use Nvidia’s H20 chips to crunch data for various AI services, have been struggling to find a local alternative that is as good as the U.S. company’s chips.

Nvidia announced it has received the OK to resume selling its pared down H20 chip in China.