Baidu Unit Receives Dubai Trial Permit for Fully Driverless Robotaxis

Nvidia's new artificial-intelligence platform, open models and ecosystem should create demand for robotaxis and support global growth, Citi analysts write in a note. Citi forecasts the global robotaxi market will grow to $188.91 billion in 2034 from $4.43 billion in 2025. China's total addressable market for robotaxis will rise to $67.59 billion in 2035 compared with $39 million in 2025. Nvidia's initiatives will likely increase investors' confidence and directly benefit Pony AI and WeRide from a software angle. Automakers such as BYD, Geely Automobile, Great Wall Motor, SAIC and Xiaomi, as well as ride-hailing platform Didi, could also benefit from the robotaxi industry's growth. In terms of hardware, Chinese lidar sensor maker Hesai will benefit. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

By WSJ Staff

Asian stocks jumped on Friday, as artificial-intelligence fervor extended into a new year.

In Hong Kong:

• The Hang Seng Index rallied 2.8%, in its best start to a trading year since 2013.
• Chip stock Shanghai Biren Technology surged over 90% in its trading debut, the latest in a flurry of AI-related listings in the city.
• Shares of Baidu jumped in both Hong Kong and the U.S. after its semiconductor unit filed for an initial-public offering.
• Electric-vehicle stocks also rallied after car makers such as BYD posted sales data.

Elsewhere:

• South Korea's Kospi composite jumped 2.3% to a record close.
• Taiwan's TAIEX also closed at an all-time high.
• Markets in mainland China and Japan haven't yet reopened for the new year.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

That was fast. If anyone thought the artificial-intelligence frenzy would come to an end in 2026, trading in China suggests otherwise as a chip maker's initial public offering sparked the first bout of AI hype of the year.

Shares in Chinese AI chip designer Biren soared 76% in their Friday debut while Baidu stock jumped 9% as its semiconductor arm, Kunlunxin, filed for a Hong Kong IPO.

Optimism has rippled across to the U.S., with the S&P 500 set to start the year higher and indications of an outperformance for the Nasdaq signaling that Chinese AI optimism is buoying American names, too.

There has been, and continues to be, massive opportunity in Chinese AI stocks. Homegrown chip maker Moore Threads gained more than 400% in its December IPO, and forthcoming listings from the likes of AI software companies MiniMax and Zhipu could see similar attention that stokes debate on a growing AI bubble.

China's AI sector has been boosted by trade tensions with the U.S. and Beijing's protectionism limiting sales of advanced AI chips from Nvidia in China. While many hot Chinese chip stocks have been dubbed "China's Nvidia," none are real technical competitors to the world's most valuable public company.

This makes regulatory risks — like an unimpeded Nvidia in China — loom large. In a historic echo, Biren had the best major Hong Kong debut since early 2021, when many Chinese tech names traded at twice their current value before regulatory headwinds crushed the sector.

It should be noted that the first trading day of January rarely defines the year ahead. The start of 2022 saw the S&P 500 at a record high before its worst year since 2008, while poor openings in 2023, 2024, and 2025 later led to annual gains of around 20%. But in terms of narrative, at least, betting against AI hype in 2026 seems folly.

• Jack Denton

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Baidu Chip Unit Files for Hong Kong IPO

Baidu's artificial-intelligence chip unit filed an application Friday to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The Chinese internet company is taking advantage of a frenzy of investor interest in domestic AI technology.

• Baidu said in a filing that a listing application for AI chip unit Kunlunxin had been submitted on Jan. 1. It didn't provide any details about the size of the offering but analysts at Jefferies estimated that Kunlunxin is likely to be valued at between $16 billion and $23 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• Baidu is best known for its search engine, which has earned the company the title "China's Google." Much like Alphabet's Google, its Western counterpart, Baidu has pivoted toward AI development with frequent updates to its Ernie chatbot.
• Kunlunxin and other domestic Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies, Cambricon Technologies, and Moore Threads are all hoping to get a foothold in the market while AI chip leader Nvidia is effectively barred from China.

What's Next: Investors will be hoping that Baidu's Kunluxin can replicate the success of fellow Chinese AI chip maker Shanghai Biren Technology, which surged 76% on its own Hong Kong debut Friday.

• Adam Clark

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Trump Delays Tariffs on Furniture and Cabinets

President Donald Trump postponed higher tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities that were set to go into effect on Jan. 1, pointing to what the White House called "productive" trade negotiations. The delay is for one year.

• Trump's proclamation, signed on Wednesday, keeps a 25% tariff on the goods imposed by the president in September. The tariffs would have increased to 30% on upholstered furniture and 50% on kitchen cabinets and vanities.
• Trump said, in the release on the White House website, the U.S. "continues to engage in productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products."
• The president has said he imposed tariffs on timber, lumber, and wood products to "bolster American industry and protect national security."
• In November, Trump eliminated reciprocal tariffs on coffee, beef, bananas and dozens of other agricultural products. He acted to deal with Americans worried about their grocery bills.

What's Next: The delay to levies on furniture provides much-needed certainty for companies, such as Wayfair and RH — both stocks are likely to enjoy at least a short-term boost to start 2026.

• Melanie Gray and Callum Keown

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Google's Home Listings Experiment Shakes Up Housing Services Sector

Alphabet's Google has begun placing home listings at the top of some of its search results in a pilot program in select markets. The prospect of disruption in the housing sector has spurred major housing services companies and their search platforms to innovate to remain competitive.

• A Google spokesperson told Barron's its program was "a small experiment" on mobile devices in select cities, such as San Francisco and Miami, without specifying when it began or how long it would last. Analysts noted that Alphabet has tried offering home listings before.
• After news of Google's test spread, on Dec. 15 Zillow Group's market value lost about $1.5 billion and Homes.com parent CoStar Group's shares fell to their lowest level in three years. Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos noted, "No one likes it when an 800-pound gorilla comes sniffing around."
• Agents told Barron's they are receiving more referrals of varying quality from AI chat platforms. To compete, Zillow, Rocket's Redfin, and Homes.com are offering services to buffer against changes to how buyers shop and agents advertise. Realtor.com, which is operated by Barron's parent News Corp, has its own listing site, too.
• CoStar is investing 50% of its Homes.com software development on AI. "AI offers transformative opportunities to unlock tremendous value in real estate," CoStar CEO Andy Florance said in October.

What's Next: Zillow has pivoted away from home listing marketing, and also offers workflow management software for agents and home listing tools favored by sellers. "To think that Google would somehow displace the most complete end-to-end solution in the marketplace with the strongest and stickiest agent product suite seems rather far-fetched," Benchmark's Kurnos wrote.

• Shaina Mishkin and Janet H. Cho

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Musk's xAI Expanding Its Data Center Complex Near Memphis

Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence company xAI has purchased a third building to expand its massive data center complex near Memphis. The Tesla CEO said on X this week that the acquisition will help boost the company's AI training capacity to nearly two gigawatts of computing power.

• The building is about to be filled with a lot of AI hardware, with Nvidia, Dell Technologies, and Super Micro Computer as the most likely vendors.
• The Memphis supercomputer complex, called "Colossus," already houses over 200,000 Nvidia current-generation Hopper chips and powers the technology behind the AI chatbot Grok which is used in some Tesla vehicles. Dell and Super Micro have been xAI's chosen suppliers of servers to house those Nvidia chips.
• The site, which Musk has said would double in size, is expected to eventually incorporate a minimum of one million graphics-processing units, according to the city's chamber of commerce. xAI has agreed to buy $5 billion worth of Dell servers, Bloomberg reported last year.
• Super Micro has also been repeatedly identified as a server supplier for the Colossus project. Shares closed down 1.3% on Wednesday and the stock remains well off its highs reached in early 2024.

What's Next: Tesla will release its fourth-quarter delivery numbers today, with a company-compiled consensus of 20 brokers estimating 422,850 vehicles, whereas the FactSet consensus calls for around 440,000. Either figure would be below the 497,099 cars delivered in the third quarter of 2025 and the 496,000 cars in the fourth quarter of 2024.

• Adam Clark, Al Root, and Janet H. Cho

***

• Newsletter edited by Zoe Szathmary, Callum Keown

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

By Adam Clark

Baidu rose sharply Friday after its artificial-intelligence chip unit filed an application to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The Chinese internet company is taking advantage of a frenzy of investor interest in domestic AI technology.

Baidu said in a filing Friday that a listing application for AI chip unit Kunlunxin had been submitted on Jan. 1. It didn't provide any details about the size of the offering but analysts at Jefferies estimated that Kunlunxin is likely to be valued at between $16 billion and $23 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

American depositary receipts of Baidu jumped 12% in premarket trading. The company's Hong Kong-listed stock rose 9.4% on Friday.

Baidu is best known for its search engine, which has earned the company the title "China's Google." Much like Alphabet's Google, its Western counterpart, Baidu has pivoted toward AI development with frequent updates to its Ernie chatbot. However, it has struggled to shake off concerns about its core business.

Investors will be hoping that Baidu's Kunlunxin can replicate the success of fellow Chinese AI chip maker Shanghai Biren Technology, which rose 76% in its own Hong Kong trading debut on Friday. Biren raised 5.37 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to $690.4 million, in its initial public offering with shares priced at HK$19.60 each. The stock ended the day at HK$34.46.

Kunlunxin, Biren, and other domestic Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies, Cambricon Technologies, and Moore Threads are all hoping to get a foothold in the market while AI chip leader Nvidia is effectively barred from China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang previously has said China represents a $50 billion market for AI infrastructure, growing at 50% a year. He has lobbied hard for U.S. permission to sell chips to Chinese customers, arguing it is better to lock China's companies into dependence on American hardware. However, that has raised the ire of Beijing, which has discouraged its companies from buying Nvidia chips.

President Donald Trump said last month he would allow shipments of the Nvidia's H200 chip to China, provided the company gives the U.S. government a 25% cut of sales. However, it isn't yet clear if regulators in China will give permission for such sales.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

By Tracy Qu

Baidu's AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed an application to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, the latest company to capitalize on the frenzy surrounding artificial intelligence.

Baidu, the Beijing-based search giant, said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday that a listing application had been submitted on Jan. 1. It didn't provide any details about the size of the offering.

Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares rose 7.5% to 141.30 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to $18.16, at the midday break, outperforming Hang Seng Tech's 3.4% gain.

Citi analysts said in a research note that while the move wasn't a surprise, its timing was earlier than expected.

Baidu, which was once considered one of China's most important technology titans alongside Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, has been facing pressure on both its top and bottom lines as its main advertising business slows. The company has been investing heavily in fields such as chip development, AI and self-driving technology as it seeks new avenues for growth.

Jefferies analysts said in a research note that Kunlunxin is likely to be valued between US$16 billion to US$23 billion. It maintained a buy rating on Baidu and raised the target price its Hong Kong shares to HK$176.00 from HK154.00 as it factored in the potential spin-off and listing of the chip unit.

The filing comes amid a surge of AI-related listings in Hong Kong. On Friday, AI chip maker Shanghai Biren Technology saw its shares soar 92% at its debut.

AI start-up MiniMax said earlier this week that it expects to raise HK$4.19 billion, while Knowledge Atlas Technology, better known as Zhipu AI, plans to raise HK$4.35 billion in their IPOs. Their shares were expected to start trading in early January.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Baidu Inc. (BIDU, 9888.HK) announced plans for the proposed spin-off and separate listing of H shares of Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., a non-wholly owned subsidiary, on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). The initiative is designed to highlight Kunlunxin's independent value, attract investors with a focus on the AI chip sector, and strengthen its market profile. By pursuing a standalone listing, Kunlunxin aims to broaden financing channels and enhance management accountability, while supporting Baidu's broader strategy to unlock the value of its AI-powered businesses.

A confidential listing application has already been submitted to the HKEX for approval to list and trade Kunlunxin's H shares. Upon completion of the spin-off, Kunlunxin is expected to remain a subsidiary of Baidu.

The details of the proposed spin-off are still being finalized and remain subject to multiple conditions, including approvals from the HKEX, completion of filings with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and final decisions by both Baidu and Kunlunxin.

The company cautions that there is no assurance regarding the timing or certainty of the spin-off taking place.

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