Microsoft plans roughly $25 billion US bond offering
The proposed sale would be its first US investment-grade debt offering in more than nine years, as technology companies seek funding for AI investments.
Kuaishou's Kling AI unit completes 19.8 billion yuan funding round
Kuaishou will retain two-thirds of the equity and 52.45% of voting rights through its Lucky Labs holding vehicle.
Kuaishou Technology said on October 30 that Beijing Kling, its artificial intelligence video-generation unit, had completed a funding round totaling about 19.8 billion yuan. The Tencent-backed short-video company did not disclose plans for spending the proceeds.
Through its holding vehicle Lucky Labs, Kuaishou will own two-thirds of Kling's equity, with voting rights of 52.45%, the company said.
New investors included a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Kingdee International, which contributed 300 million yuan. Gongqingcheng Junke invested 200 million yuan, while a subsidiary of Shanghai-listed MetaX contributed 100 million yuan. These investors assumed part of other investors' commitments and obtained redemption rights.
The latest financing follows a July round that raised $2.8 billion and attracted investors including Alibaba and Tencent. Kling's valuation before that investment was $15 billion.
Kling's rivals in AI video generation include models from OpenAI, Google and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. The company is also planning an initial public offering, according to a media report citing people familiar with the matter.