As Kimi's competitors are going public one after another, Kimi can't sit still.

Recently reported that Dark Side of the Moon has notified its shareholders that it has officially initiated the process of dismantling the VIE and red - chip structures to clear the obstacles for its IPO in Hong Kong.

Just half a year ago, Yang Zhilin, the founder of Dark Side of the Moon, reiterated in an internal letter that "there is no rush to go public in the short term."

"This step is more like clearing the structural obstacles before going public. That is, the company has seriously entered the IPO preparation period, but there are still several hurdles ahead: equity structure, regulatory communication, domestic filing, security review, materials for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, financial audit, and market window." Huang Lichong, the president of Huisheng International Capital, said that dismantling the VIE and red - chip structures essentially aims to clarify the control rights, responsible entities, and regulatory boundaries. If everything goes smoothly, it may take half a year to a year. If the regulatory, shareholder, tax, and foreign investment arrangements are complex, it may take longer.

Phoenix WEEKLY Finance inquired Dark Side of the Moon about issues related to the listing, but as of the time of publication, no response had been received.

Regarding the expectations, the capital market has already given an answer in advance. When Dark Side of the Moon was founded in 2023, its valuation was about $300 million. By May 2026, this figure had exceeded $20 billion.

In fact, with Zhipu and MiniMax successively listing on the Hong Kong stock market, the valuation logic of the secondary market for large - model companies has suddenly been opened up. The model in the primary market, which has long relied on narratives to support valuations, has become a thing of the past. "Going public" itself is also changing from a result to a competitive approach.

"Dark Side of the Moon's move is not only to seize the golden window for listing in Hong Kong but also a proactive layout forced by industry competition." Zhang Yi, the CEO of iiMedia Research Group, said.

Perhaps for Dark Side of the Moon, the real question to consider is no longer "whether to go public" but rather that when other competitors have moved on to the next round, Dark Side of the Moon cannot stand still.

The $20 - billion valuation may be influenced by capital - market sentiment

After the start of 2026, the capital "atmosphere" in the large - model industry has rapidly heated up.

In the past three years, Chinese AI startups have transformed from being ignored to becoming the darlings of capital. However, what really turned the industry sentiment around was the successive listings of Zhipu and MiniMax on the Hong Kong stock market at the beginning of this year.

On January 8, 2026, Zhipu was the first to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at an issue price of HK$116. On the first day of listing, the company's stock price closed at HK$131.5 per share, up 13.17%, with a total market value of HK$57.89 billion. In the following months, Zhipu's stock price continued to rise. As of the close on May 26, its total market value had exceeded HK$599.6 billion, nearly ten times its value at the time of listing.

On January 9, MiniMax followed suit and listed on the Hong Kong stock market, completing its listing at an issue price of HK$165. On the first day of listing, the company's stock price closed at HK$345 per share, a sharp increase of 109% from the issue price, and its total market value exceeded HK$106.7 billion. As of now, its total market value has exceeded HK$241.1 billion.

This has provided a pricing sample for the entire industry. Since then, AI is no longer just a technological story but is regarded as the next - round platform - level opportunity.

With such successful examples in front, the valuation of Dark Side of the Moon has also risen rapidly.

In November 2025, the valuation of Dark Side of the Moon was $4.3 billion. By May 2026, it had exceeded $20 billion. In just half a year, the valuation nearly quadrupled, and the cumulative financing exceeded $3.2 billion. Dark Side of the Moon has also achieved a rare capital leap among domestic large - model startups.

"Revenue is the foundation. Capital pricing mainly focuses on three things: First, the ability of the base model; second, the user entrance and developer ecosystem; third, the imaginative space for future platformization." Huang Lichong believes that for companies like Dark Side of the Moon, what capital is buying is not today's profit statement but a scarce ticket in the Chinese large - model track. Whoever can become the next - generation AI entrance may gain access to new profit pools such as search, office, developer tools, enterprise services, and Agent execution.

This year, there have even been frequent share - information about non - official financing of Kimi in the market.

In April, Kimi publicly refuted the rumors, saying, "Recently, there have been false financing information in the market under the name of 'Dark Side of the Moon'. We hereby remind investors that all financing activities are directly responsible for by Dark Side of the Moon. Any so - called 'investment shares' circulated through non - official channels carry huge risks."

Screenshot of Kimi's response.

When capital starts to frantically look for the "next Zhipu" or the "next MiniMax", it is difficult for Dark Side of the Moon to keep capital at bay.

"The $20 - billion valuation is more like an early overdraft of the future." Zhang Yi believes that this is a pricing by the capital market to cash in on the growth dividends in advance.

Huang Lichong said, "This valuation can only hold up when three things are realized: the model continues to lead, commercialization continues to expand, and the unit inference cost decreases. Otherwise, it is an emotional valuation."

The R & D rhythm may be restricted, and commercialization will be put in the spotlight

Among domestic large - model startups, Dark Side of the Moon is a "minority".

For a long time, Yang Zhilin has been one of the most typical "tech - oriented" representatives among domestic AI entrepreneurs. Compared with traffic competition and commercial expansion, he emphasizes the ability of the base model, organizational efficiency, and long - term R & D investment. This has also made Dark Side of the Moon one of the teams in China that is closest to the routes of OpenAI and Anthropic.

QuestMobile data shows that the monthly active user number of the Kimi App decreased from 21.653 million in the first quarter of 2025 to 9.027 million in the fourth quarter.

Yang Zhilin clearly stated the direction of this round of adjustment in the full - staff letter at the end of 2025: focus on Agent (intelligent agent), not aim for an absolute number of users, continuously pursue the upper limit of intelligence and productivity value, and significantly reduce the annual advertising investment, shifting to technology - driven commercialization.

In January 2026, Kimi released its flagship model K2.5. According to reports from multiple media, within less than a month after the model was released, the company's revenue in nearly 20 days had exceeded its total revenue for the whole year of 2025. As of April 2026, the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) had exceeded $200 million, and paid subscriptions and API revenue had gradually become new growth engines.

Dark Side of the Moon is trying to prove to the outside world that Kimi's commercial ability still exists after the reduction in monthly active users.

Qichacha shows that in May this year, Dark Side of the Moon completed a $2 - billion Series D financing, led by Meituan Longzhu, with participation from institutions such as China Mobile and CPE Yuanfeng. This may mean that capital recognizes Kimi's adjustment in its business model.

Screenshot of Dark Side of the Moon's $2 - billion Series D financing.

However, after the financing, AI companies still cannot avoid the continuous investment competition. Training computing power, inference cost, data resources, and talent reserves all mean huge capital consumption.

If it enters the secondary market, the rules will start to change. In addition to investment, investors will also require corresponding returns.

Huang Lichong predicts that there will be significant changes after Dark Side of the Moon goes public. First, the organization will become more complex. Financial disclosure, internal control, compliance, model security, and data governance will all be institutionalized. Second, the R & D rhythm will be more restricted. In the past, it could only focus on model breakthroughs. After listing, it will have to explain input - output, computing power expenses, loss boundaries, and commercialization paths. Third, commercialization will be put in the spotlight. Investors will not pay for "model leadership" in the long term. They still need to see subscription, API, enterprise - customer, Agent revenue, and gross profit margin.

"If a company can only raise funds but fails to lead in model development, it will eventually be proven false. If it can only develop models but lacks capital and commercialization, it will not be able to reach the end." In Huang Lichong's view, the real test for Dark Side of the Moon after going public is whether it can turn "technological scarcity" into "sustainable revenue" and "interpretable valuation."

(Image source: Dark Side of the Moon official)

This article is from the WeChat official account "Phoenix WEEKLY Finance", author: Wang Han. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.