November 11, 2026 – Alibaba Group has formally confirmed plans to spin off its semiconductor subsidiary, T-Head (Shanghai) Technology, for an independent listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move marks one of the most significant capital market developments for China’s domestic AI chip sector in recent years.
The Hong Kong Exchange has already granted confirmation for the proposed spin-off. T-Head submitted its listing application (Form A1) in confidence on September 11, 2026, according to Alibaba’s announcement on November 10. The offering is expected to take the form of a global H-share sale, comprising both a Hong Kong public offering and placements to institutional and professional investors.
Alibaba emphasized that T-Head will remain a subsidiary after the listing. Key details, including the size of the offering, share structure, and the extent of Alibaba’s reduced stake, have yet to be finalized. The transaction remains subject to approval by the HKEX Listing Committee and filing with China’s securities regulator.
Founded in 2018 through the merger of Alibaba-acquired C-Sky Microsystems and the chip R&D team from DAMO Academy, T-Head has positioned itself as a full-stack data center chip supplier. Its product portfolio spans five lines: Zhenwu AI chips, Yitian server CPUs, ICN Switch interconnect chips, Panmai smart NICs, and Zhenyue storage controllers.
Commercial traction has accelerated notably. As of April 2026, the Zhenwu series had shipped 560,000 units, serving more than 650 external customers across automotive, finance, energy, and manufacturing sectors, with annualized revenue reaching the tens of billions of yuan. At the Apsara Conference in September, Alibaba unveiled the next-generation Zhenwu V900, featuring 216GB of memory, 1,200GB/s inter-chip bandwidth, FP8/FP4 precision support, and the ability to scale clusters to 500,000 chips. Mass production is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.
T-Head is also a core senior member of the RISC-V International Foundation and has built a comprehensive ecosystem covering processor IP, development toolchains, and OS adaptation.
The spin-off follows a broader trend of Chinese tech giants unlocking the value of their chip businesses. Baidu’s Kunlun Xin previously filed for a Hong Kong listing in January 2026. Market estimates for T-Head’s valuation range widely, from $20 billion to over $60 billion, depending on the methodology used.
