The spin-off would give investors direct exposure to the chip designer at the centre of Alibaba's AI push, as China seeks self-sufficiency in chips.
Alibaba Group's chip design unit, T-Head, has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, 10 November, according to the South China Morning Post and CNA. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
CNA, carrying Reuters, reported that T-Head lodged its listing application on 11 September after the Hong Kong exchange allowed Alibaba to proceed with the spin-off. The size of the offering, its structure and the stake Alibaba will keep are still to be set, and the listing needs regulatory approval. T-Head is expected to remain an Alibaba subsidiary.
Founded in 2018, T-Head designs data-centre chips and sits at the centre of Alibaba's effort to build its own AI computing capacity and reduce reliance on Nvidia processors under US export controls. In September Alibaba unveiled T-Head's Zhenwu V900 AI processor, which it says is three times as powerful as the previous generation. Alibaba said a separate listing would let investors value T-Head on its own, help it raise capital independently and strengthen its ties with customers, suppliers and partners.
The SCMP described it as a high-profile listing for the city. CNA noted that Baidu's chip unit Kunlunxin also filed confidentially for a Hong Kong listing in January.
