TECH

Alibaba Plans Spinoff of Chip Arm T-Head Amid AI Boom

Published: Jan. 23, 2026 1:18 a.m. GMT+8

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Alibaba will support a future listing of its chip unit T-Head, a source told Caixin on Thursday. Photo: VCG

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will spin off its semiconductor unit, T-Head, for an independent listing, joining a wave of Chinese tech firms capitalizing on growing demand for homegrown AI chips.

A person close to the company confirmed the plan to Caixin on Thursday, adding that T-Head’s AI processor — the PPU — ranked as the highest-shipping domestic graphics processing unit (GPU) in 2025. A successful IPO of T-Head could prompt a revaluation of China’s chip sector, the person said. Shares of Alibaba rose 5.03% in premarket trading Thursday in New York.

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Alibaba will spin off its semiconductor unit T-Head for an independent listing; T-Head’s PPU GPU ranked as China's top-shipping domestic GPU in 2025.
Chinese chip IPOs are surging, with Moore Threads and Metax gaining over 400% after listings; Baidu also filed for a spin-off of its AI chip unit Kunlunxin.
Domestic GPUs are being pushed to enter the internet sector, but face challenges with long procurement cycles and strict requirements from major clients.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is spinning off its semiconductor unit, T-Head, for an independent listing. This move capitalizes on the demand for Chinese AI chips. Alibaba's shares rose 5.03% in premarket trading. T-Head designs proprietary chips, including the PPU, which is a general-purpose GPU for AI.

T-Head: T-Head is Alibaba's semiconductor unit, founded in 2018, which is being spun off for an independent listing. It designs chips for Alibaba's cloud and enterprise servers, including the Hanguang 800 AI inference chip and the Yitian 710 CPU. Its PPU, a general-purpose GPU, was the highest-shipping domestic GPU in 2025. T-Head also produces chips for IoT devices and solid-state drive controllers.

Nvidia Corp.: Nvidia Corp. is a key player in the high-end chip market. Its H20 chip, customized for China, serves as a benchmark for Chinese AI chipmakers. Alibaba's T-Head's PPU chip is reported to match Nvidia's H20 in overall performance. Restrictions on U.S. chips like Nvidia's have created a "listing window" for domestic Chinese firms to capitalize on investor enthusiasm and increasing demand for homegrown AI chips.

Baidu Inc.: Baidu Inc. is mentioned in the article as a company that, like Alibaba, is spinning off its AI chip unit. Baidu's AI chip unit, Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd., filed for a Hong Kong listing on January 2. Kunlunxin will remain a subsidiary of Baidu after its spin-off.

Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd.: Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd. is Baidu Inc.'s AI chip unit. It has filed for a Hong Kong listing, and Baidu intends for it to remain a subsidiary post-spinoff. This move is part of a broader trend of Chinese tech firms capitalizing on investor enthusiasm and the demand for domestic AI chips.

Moore Threads Technology Co. Ltd.: Moore Threads Technology Co. Ltd. recently listed on Shanghai's STAR Market on December 5th. Its share price surged by 446%, achieving a market capitalization of 293.7 billion yuan ($42.2 billion). The company anticipates a significant revenue increase for 2025, projecting growth between 230.7% and 246.7% to approximately 1.5 billion yuan.

Metax Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.: Metax Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. is a Chinese semiconductor company. It recently saw a significant surge in its share price, gaining 468% since its debut on December 17. Their successful listing highlights the current investor enthusiasm and "listing window" for domestic chip firms in China.

Biren Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd.: Biren Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. (壁仞智能科技（上海）有限公司) is a Shanghai-based Chinese chipmaker. It recently experienced surging share prices after listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company is part of a wave of Chinese chip firms capitalizing on increased demand for homegrown AI chips and a "listing window" created by U.S. restrictions on high-end chip exports.

Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor Co. Ltd.: Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor Co. Ltd. (天数智芯（上海）有限公司) is a Chinese chipmaker. The company saw surging share prices after listing in Hong Kong earlier this month, amid increased investor enthusiasm for domestic AI chip firms.

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What Happened When

2018：: T-Head was founded.

2019：: T-Head debuted its first AI inference chip, the Hanguang 800.

Around 2020：: Development of the PPU, a general-purpose GPU for AI training and inference, began.

2021：: T-Head introduced the Arm-based Yitian 710 CPU.

After March 2023：: T-Head’s RISC-V architecture team was merged into Alibaba’s Damo Academy and Meng Jianyi became the academy’s chief scientist.

2025：: T-Head’s AI processor, the PPU, ranked as the highest-shipping domestic GPU.

September 2025：: CCTV broadcast reported that T-Head’s PPU matched Nvidia’s H20 chip in overall performance and surpassed Huawei Ascend 910B in memory and bandwidth.

January 2, 2026：: Baidu announced its AI chip unit, Kunlunxin, had filed for a Hong Kong listing.

January 22, 2026：: Alibaba confirmed plans to spin off T-Head for an independent listing; Alibaba shares rose 5.03% in premarket trading in New York.

AI generated, for reference only