General Atlantic in Talks to Lead $2 Billion Funding Round for Kling AI
Miles Bennett
Kuaishou's AI-video unit Kling AI is in talks with General Atlantic to lead a debut funding round targeting over $2 billion at a roughly $18 billion post-money valuation — a rare move by a top US private-equity firm into China's generative-AI space, and a stepping stone toward Kling AI's potential IPO.
How far along is this deal?
Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that General Atlantic is in talks to lead Kling AI's first outside funding round at over $2 billion, valuing the company at roughly $18 billion post-money.
Kling AI had earlier approached investors at a $20 billion valuation, then lowered its ask to match market appetite.
Negotiations are still at an early stage, and there is no guarantee the deal will close on these terms.
How fast is Kling AI's revenue growing?
Kling AI's annualized recurring revenue (ARR — the yearly run-rate implied by current subscriptions) jumped from about $300 million in January to roughly $500 million by March, driven by the launch of Kling 3.0.
First-quarter actual revenue topped RMB 650 million (about $96.2 million), up more than 300% year-on-year.
This means → Kling AI's monetization is already running hot: ARR nearly doubled in two months, which is the core case for an $18 billion price tag.
Why is General Atlantic the one leading?
General Atlantic was an early backer of ByteDance and also invested early in Meta Platforms and Uber — it has deep experience betting on platform-scale tech companies.
In plain terms = this is the firm that backed TikTok's parent, Facebook's parent, and Uber — its involvement alone is a credibility signal.
If the deal goes through, it would mark General Atlantic's rare direct bet on China's generative-AI sector, signaling that top US PE firms are still actively hunting Chinese AI targets.
What exactly does Kling AI sell?
Kling AI operates in text-to-video — users type a text prompt and the AI generates a short clip. The product is similar in concept to OpenAI's Sora, which has since been shut down.
Its customers include professional filmmakers, advertisers, and creative studios. Competitors include ByteDance's Seedance and startups such as Shengshu Technology.
This reflects a broader shift: after OpenAI closed Sora, Chinese AI-video tools are filling the global gap, widening Kling AI's commercialization window.
What does this mean for Kuaishou and the market?
A completed raise would lock in a major US investor ahead of Kling AI's potential IPO, strengthening the listing narrative.
On the day the news broke (June 17), Kuaishou-W shares rose as much as 7% intraday to HK$47.48.
Beyond General Atlantic, Kling AI has drawn preliminary interest from other Asia-focused investment firms — this means → the competitive dynamics around this debut round may be hotter than what is publicly known.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.