Stepwise Star, a domestic large model unicorn, is approaching the completion of a new round of financing totaling approximately 2.5 billion USD, and has completed the dismantling of its Red Chip structure, officially entering the accelerated preparation phase for its Hong Kong IPO. This round of financing shows a significant characteristic of industrial capital concentration, with core enterprises in the supply chain such as Huqin, Longqi, HuaWei, and ZTE all participating, covering key links from mobile terminal manufacturing to upstream semiconductor components.

This change in capital structure reflects the definite industry trend of transferring large model capabilities to mobile terminals. At the same time, market rumors indicate that OpenAI is also secretly developing its first AI Agent phone, which is expected to be mass-produced as early as the first half of 2027. Stepwise Star's acquisition of support from the hardware industry chain at this point demonstrates its strategic foresight in the competition for terminal AIization.

Notably, Hong Kong Investment Management Company (HKIC), known as the "Hong Kong version of Temasek," is also listed among the shareholders. This not only provides strong official endorsement for Stepwise Star's Hong Kong listing but also reinforces its core position in the AI industry cluster of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With the continued heating up of the financing environment for domestic large models, it has recently been reported that Moonlight Face will also complete a new round of financing worth 2 billion USD. By introducing deep industrial resources, Stepwise Star is trying to penetrate deeply from algorithm development into industrial application. Its capital performance and technical productization path after the Hong Kong listing may reshape the market landscape and competitive barriers of the domestic general artificial intelligence industry.