Hong Kong-listed AI stocks experienced a dramatic split this week, with Zhipu AI surging 48% intraday on June 15 after announcing the open-source release of its GLM-5.2 foundation model, while Alibaba tumbled to a 16-month low, falling roughly 5% in a single session.
The contrasting moves underscore the self-defeating logic of America's technology containment strategy, according to a South China Morning Post opinion piece. The rally in Zhipu's shares, trading under Knowledge Atlas Technology, continued into the following week, with an intraday high of HK$2,980.
Alibaba's decline came after Anthropic PBC accused the Chinese tech giant of "illicitly" accessing its AI models. The stock's year-to-date loss now stands at 33%. Other Hong Kong-listed Chinese tech names also fell, with Xiaomi and Baidu dropping 3% or more.
The diverging paths of these stocks highlight the complex dynamics in Hong Kong's AI market, caught between US export controls and a push for domestic innovation. Zhipu's open-source approach appears to be gaining investor confidence, while Alibaba faces renewed scrutiny over its AI practices.
Critics argue that the regulatory environment in Hong Kong remains untested, and that US containment efforts may ultimately accelerate China's push for self-sufficiency in AI, potentially fragmenting global technology standards further.