Funds controlled by the municipal governments of Beijing and Shenzhen have acquired stakes in Zhipu AI, one of the country's so-called artificial intelligence (AI) "tigers", providing more resources for the start-up to compete with US peers like ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
On November 1, the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund - which previously invested an undisclosed amount in the start-up in March, according to local media reports - injected 465,090 yuan (US$65,288) in fresh capital to gain a 1.49 per cent stake in Zhipu AI, according to records on Chinese corporate database Qichacha.
Zhipu AI on the same day also received investments from funds controlled by the local governments of southern tech hub Shenzhen and central Hubei province, which boosted the firm's registered capital to about 31.07 million yuan from 27.91 million yuan, Qichacha data showed.
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Beijing-based Zhipu AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The latest funding raised by Zhipu AI reflects how Chinese AI-related enterprises continue to attract new investment, despite Washington's moves to prevent Beijing from pursuing advances in the technology.
People seen in front of the Zhipu AI exhibition space during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July this year. Photo: Handout alt=People seen in front of the Zhipu AI exhibition space during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in July this year. Photo: Handout>
Major investors in Zhipu AI include Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, Meituan, GL Ventures and Legend Capital. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The Beijing government-controlled fund, which started in December last year with 10 billion yuan in registered capital, has so far made seven strategic investments, including in six AI start-ups and one advanced-manufacturing venture, according to Chinese company database platform ITjuzi.
In September, Zhipu AI raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Innovation Development, a state-backed investment vehicle, which reportedly valued the start-up at around 20 billion yuan.
Zhipu AI is part of a group of new-generation tech unicorns - start-ups valued at more than US$1 billion - that have emerged as China's best hope to push AI innovation and rival the success of OpenAI. The other "new AI tigers of China" are Moonshot AI, Baichuan AI and MiniMax.