Shares of Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared about 700% in their market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, after the company raised nearly $600 million in its initial public offering.

Shares, which were priced at 104.66 yuan in the IPO, surged to over 835 yuan on debut, marking a 697% jump.

Similar to Moore Threads, which saw a robust debut at the start of the month, MetaX develops graphics processing units for artificial intelligence applications, tapping into a fast-growing sector driven by rising adoption of AI services.

MetaX is part of a growing cohort of local chipmakers building AI processors, reflecting Beijing’s push to reduce dependence on U.S. chips following Washington’s tech curbs on export of high-end technology to China.

Washington has imposed export curbs on U.S. chip behemoth Nvidia, barring sales of its most advanced AI chips to China.

Newer Chinese players such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology have also entered the AI space, aiming to capture a share of the billions in graphics processing unit, or GPU, demand no longer served by Nvidia. Chinese regulators have also been clearing more semiconductor IPOs in their drive for greater AI independence.

Earlier this month, shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based GPU manufacturer often referred to as “China’s Nvidia,” soared by more than 400% on its debut in Shanghai following its $1.1 billion listing.

Macquarie’s equity analyst Eugene Hsiao said investor enthusiasm around Chinese AI-chip IPOs such as MetaX is partly shaped by longer-term expectations that China will build a self-sufficient semiconductor ecosystem as tensions with the U.S. persist.

“For that to work, you need these players. You need names like Moore Threads, Meta X, etc,” he said.

“So I think when investors are looking at these IPOs, they implicitly are thinking about the nationalistic element,” Hsiao noted, adding that the main driver of the frenzy, however, was the firms’ growth potential.

— CNBC’s Dylan Butts contributed to this article.

Self-driving car company Waymo is in talks to raise $15 billion in funding in the new year.

The robotaxi company plans to raise billions from Alphabet, its parent company, as well as outside investors at a valuation as high as $110 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

The latest funding discussions are indicative of Waymo’s status as the leader of the pack in the U.S. robotaxi market. The company has been spending heavily to ramp up its fleet and continue expanding to more regions. Waymo is now either operating its robotaxis, planning to launch service or starting to test its vehicles in 26 markets, in the U.S. and abroad.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo will “meaningfully” contribute to Alphabet’s financials as soon as 2027, CNBC reported Tuesday.  

If the Google sister company winds up raising as much as $15 billion, that would represent more than double the amount of its last funding round. That was a series C round of $5.6 billion at a $45 billion valuation, which closed in October 2024. Alphabet had committed $5 billion in a multiyear investment to Waymo at the time.

That round was led by Alphabet alongside previous backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. At the time, Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov said the funding would go toward expanding its robotaxi service.

Waymo currently serves paid rides to the public in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles markets.

Earlier this month, CNBC reported that Waymo crossed an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides, and the company in December said it had served 14 million trips in 2025, putting it on pace to end the year at more than 20 million trips total since launching in 2020.

The company plans to open service next year in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington, D.C. Waymo also announced plans to launch its service in London in 2026, which will mark the company’s first overseas service region.

Amazon’s Zoox this year began offering free driverless rides to the public around the Las Vegas Strip and certain San Francisco neighborhoods. Tesla launched a Robotaxi-branded service in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, but those cars still had human drivers or safety supervisors on board as of mid-December.

Fundraising plans were first reported by The Information.

WATCH: 2025: The year that the robotaxi went mainstream with Waymo leading the pack

A California administrative law judge recently ruled recently that Tesla’s marketing around its “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” systems had been deceptive, and that the company should face a 30-day suspension of each of its licenses to sell and manufacture cars in the state, according to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles.

The California DMV made formal accusations of false advertising against Tesla in 2022. Steve Gordon, the agency’s director, said in a press conference on Tuesday that the regulator will now give Elon Musk’s automaker 90 days to clarify or remove deceptive or confusing language about its Autopilot and FSD systems before implementing a 30-day suspension of the company’s sales license.

Gordon also said the DMV will stay the order to suspend Tesla’s manufacturing license so there will be no interruption to the company’s factory operations in the state.

In 2022, the DMV said that Tesla’s “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” marketing suggested the company’s cars were capable of operating autonomously, though they required an attentive driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.

Since that time, Tesla has changed the name of its premium, driver assistance option to Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Tesla’s stock price closed at a record on Tuesday, largely due to increased enthusiasm on Wall Street surrounding the company’s plans for its Robotaxis.

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