Alibaba-Backed Moonshot Unveils Kimi K2.5 AI Model in Competitive Push

Moonshot, backed by Alibaba and IDG Capital, has launched its advanced Kimi K2.5 AI model, featuring native multimodal capabilities to process text, images, and video within a unified architecture. The release follows a $500 million funding round that elevated the company's valuation to $4.3 billion, with ambitions to reach $5 billion in subsequent rounds.

The MOVE intensifies competition in China's AI sector, where rivals like DeepSeek, Zhipu, and MiniMax are advancing their own large-scale initiatives. DeepSeek is anticipated to announce a new model after open-sourcing research, while Zhipu and MiniMax have collectively raised over $1 billion through Hong Kong IPOs.

Moonshot positions Kimi K2.5 as its most sophisticated offering yet, claiming it will 'stand strong in proprietary and open-source comparisons.' The model's enhanced reasoning capabilities signal the firm's bid to maintain leadership in China's rapidly evolving language model race.