Chinese AI chipmaker MetaX shares jump nearly 600% in market debut

SHANGHAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) – MetaX Integrated Circuits shares jumped nearly 600% in their Shanghai debut on Wednesday, as China speeds up flotation by homegrown AI chipmakers to reduce reliance on U.S. majors Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. MetaX, founded by former AMD executive Chen Weiliang, raised roughly $600 million in an IPO last week. Its listing comes on the heels of a stellar debut by bigger rival Moore Threads earlier this month. MetaX shares opened at 700 yuan apiece versus an IPO price of 104.66 yuan, and hovered around that level in early trading.  Chinese makers of artificial intelligence chips are rushing to sell shares publicly, capitalising on a government drive to boost local chip production amid rivalry with the U.S., though some investors have expressed concern about stretched valuation. "AI and semiconductors are key areas of competition in the Sino-U.S. tech rivalry," Guotai Haitong Securities said in a report. "Against the backdrop of geopolitical tension, AI chipmaking has huge growth potential" as China seeks to achieve self-sufficiency. Research firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts AI chip sales in China to top $189 billion by 2029, versus $54 billion in 2026. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing)

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