Photo of Kuaishou headquarters in Beijing, China on November 5, 2020.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Kuaisho Technology Shares rose nearly 7% on Friday after the company, backed by the tech giant, announced a capital injection of about $2.8 billion into its artificial intelligence subsidiary Kling AI, but later trimmed profits. tencent.
The Beijing-based short video platform disclosed details of the funding in a regulatory filing released after markets closed on Thursday. The company was targeting a $15 billion valuation with the latest funding, Bloomberg reported.
Kuishin shares rose as much as 6.89% at the opening of the Hong Kong market on Friday. The stock closed 0.09% lower at HK$42.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended 1.28% higher.
Tencent, which owns Kling AI’s domestic rival generative AI platform Hunyuan, has invested $200 million as part of the funding round, bringing the total amount raised to 19 billion yuan ($2.79 billion). As a result of this transaction, Kuaishou’s stake will be diluted to 68%.
In addition to Tencent, this funding round attracted backers from a broad consortium including 21 independent investors.
CNBC previously reported on the hype and fierce competition surrounding the China-based AI video generator, and reported that Kling AI is increasingly targeting growth outside its home market.
Kling AI will serve as a core creator studio offering AI-driven capabilities and claims to reach over 60 million creators worldwide after launch in June 2024.
Kuaishou is the second most popular short video platform in China, with 700 million monthly active users reportedly using the service for more than 130 minutes per day.
