TLDR: CMC Capital and the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) have jointly launched the ‘CMC AI Creative Fund’ and co-led a $130 million Series B financing round for LiblibAI, China’s leading multimodal model and creative community. This significant investment, the largest in the AI application sector this year, signals a strategic shift in AI funding towards application-layer innovation and aims to establish Hong Kong as a global hub for generative AI creativity.
In a landmark collaboration, CMC Capital and the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC) have officially announced the establishment of the ‘CMC AI Creative Fund.’ This new fund is set to drive innovation in the artificial intelligence sector, with its inaugural move being a co-lead investment in the Series B financing round of LiblibAI, recognized as China’s largest multimodal model and creation community. The financing round successfully secured a total of $130 million, marking it as the most substantial investment in the AI application track recorded this year. This development underscores a notable shift in AI investment focus, moving from foundational underlying models to the more immediate and impactful application layer.
The ‘CMC AI Creative Fund’ is specifically designed to concentrate on the application and innovation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) within the creative industry. The initiative leverages Hong Kong’s unique advantages, including its international data environment, robust cultural and creative infrastructure, and favorable policy landscape within Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. The overarching goal of the fund is to bolster Hong Kong’s position as a prominent Asian GenAI innovation hub.
The partnership between CMC Capital, a market-oriented investment institution, and HKIC, a government strategic platform, represents a deep integration of complementary strengths. This collaboration combines their respective advantages in industrial resources, technical talent, strategic location, and capital operation. HKIC, a wholly-owned entity of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, operates as an investment platform committed to ‘patient capital’ and functions as a ‘super connector’ with a ‘dual mission.’ This dual mission involves pursuing medium-to-long-term financial returns while simultaneously fostering and supporting new engines of growth. To date, HKIC has invested in over 130 projects, with a clear strategic emphasis on three core sectors: hard technology, life sciences, and new energy and green technology, alongside their related applications. Artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence are highlighted as key growth areas within HKIC’s strategic布局.
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For CMC Capital, this collaboration significantly enhances its strategic depth in the technology investment landscape. By systematically investing in critical hard-technology domains like new energy and AI, CMC Capital reaffirms its long-term commitment as a steadfast supporter and partner in China’s innovative economy. The fund also positions HKIC as both a ‘pathfinder’ and a ‘connector,’ facilitating groundbreaking advancements and fostering a vibrant GenAI ecosystem in the region.
