China AI giant SenseTime set for IPO in Hong Kong

China’s biggest artificial intelligence (AI) company, SenseTime Group, have filed plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong that could raise at least $2 billion, reports Caixin.

China International Capital Corp, Haitong Securities and HSBC Holdings are joint sponsors on the proposed offering, the company said in documents filed with the exchange on Friday.

The SoftBank Group Corp-backed company, which makes AI technology for interpreting images, has thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic. The need to enforce lockdown measures increased demand for its facial-recognition software in China. SenseTime’s cameras have been used by the government to tell whether people are wearing masks, to read their temperatures and to determine their identities when their faces are covered.