Beijing-based Moore Threads is aiming to raise 8 billion yuan, while Shanghai-based MetaX seeks 3.9 billion yuan. Both companies specialize in designing graphics processing units (GPUs), which are critical for artificial intelligence development, gaming, and data-intensive computing.
Their aggressive fundraising plans reflect growing urgency among Chinese chipmakers to ramp up local production capabilities, especially as geopolitical tensions limit access to advanced foreign technology. The U.S. has imposed a series of tightening export controls, most recently in April, which ban the shipment of Nvidia’s popular H20 chips to China.
In addition to restricting chip sales, Washington has barred Chinese AI chip designers from accessing leading-edge global foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for advanced fabrication—a move that severely limits China’s ability to produce cutting-edge semiconductors domestically.
Both Moore Threads and MetaX acknowledged these restrictions as double-edged: they pose significant operational risks but also create an opening to win more domestic customers eager to avoid reliance on U.S. technology.
“U.S. restrictions on high-end GPU exports to China are prompting Chinese companies to accelerate domestic substitution processes,” Moore Threads wrote in its prospectus. The company itself was added to the U.S. Entity List in late 2023, cutting it off from working with TSMC.
MetaX similarly noted that “geopolitical pressures are forcing relevant domestic clients to use domestically-produced GPU products, which will help domestic GPU manufacturers establish closer ties with local customers and suppliers.”
While these firms are seen as leaders among China’s growing cohort of GPU startups, their filings also highlight the immense financial challenges involved in catching up with global giants like Nvidia. Both companies remain deeply loss-making, primarily due to heavy research and development spending.
Moore Threads reported revenue of 438 million yuan in 2024 but posted a net loss of 1.49 billion yuan, following losses of 1.67 billion yuan in 2023 and 1.84 billion yuan in 2022. MetaX generated 743 million yuan in revenue in 2024 but also ran a 1.4 billion yuan loss, after losing 871 million yuan in 2023 and 777 million yuan in 2022.
“Moore Threads and MetaX are both considered leading GPU firms in China, and accessing the capital market in China would be crucial for them to continue their research and development,” said He Hui, research director on semiconductors at Omdia. He added that China’s broader push for semiconductor self-sufficiency is critical to enabling domestic players to achieve economies of scale and eventually reach profitability.
Both companies were founded in 2020 by industry veterans with significant experience at major U.S. chipmakers. MetaX was launched by former AMD employees, including Chairman Chen Weiliang, who once served as AMD’s global head of GPU product line design. Moore Threads was founded by ex-Nvidia executives, led by Chairman Zhang Jianzhong, the former general manager for Nvidia’s China operations.
Their competition includes other rising Chinese chip firms such as Huawei, Cambricon, and Hygon, all vying for a share of the country’s massive and strategically important GPU market.
Meanwhile, investor interest in local AI chip development remains high. Just last week, Reuters reported that Biren Technology, another Chinese GPU designer, raised about 1.5 billion yuan in new funding and is preparing for a Hong Kong IPO—highlighting how the sector is attracting both political support and significant capital, even amid intensifying technological rivalry with the United States.