Kuaishou's Kling AI raises nearly $3 billion at an $18 billion valuation, filing shows

Kuaishou Technology has disclosed in a Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing filing that its AI video-generation unit, Kling AI, is raising close to $3 billion in its first external funding round. The raise, worth about 20.45 billion yuan, carries an $18 billion post-money valuation.

The Kling AI funding round would be the largest yet by an AI video-model company, Kuaishou reportedly said. Kling AI generates video clips from text and image prompts. The $18 billion figure is down from a $20 billion target the company is said to have floated in April.

Why it matters: the raise doubles as a launch pad for a spin-off. Kuaishou reportedly plans to list Kling AI independently on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange within the next 12 months, which would make it one of the first pure-play generative-video businesses to reach public markets.

Investors have reportedly committed more than 19 billion yuan (about $2.8 billion) at a $15 billion pre-money valuation, with roughly 38 backers said to include Tencent, Alibaba’s cloud arm, Baidu, CITIC Securities and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, alongside state-backed industry funds and entertainment investors. Kuaishou, Kling AI and Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The revenue trajectory helps explain the appetite. Kling AI’s first-quarter 2026 revenue reached about 650 million yuan (roughly $96 million), more than four times the year-earlier level, according to figures cited in the reporting; its annualized run rate reportedly climbed to about $500 million in March from $300 million in January. Those figures come from the funding process and have not been independently audited.

The caution: an $18 billion valuation on a run rate near $500 million prices Kling AI at a steep multiple, and the trim from the original $20 billion target suggests investors pushed back. A spin-off IPO within a year would test whether public markets share the private valuation — or discount it.