What's going on?

SenseTime announced plans to list on Hong Kong�s stock market on Monday, and China�s biggest AI firm thinks anyone who buys in will be very � processing… � happy.

What does this mean?

SenseTime � which specializes in facial recognition software � saw massive demand for its services last year, primarily from a Chinese government that wanted to keep lockdowns locked tight. And unlike many of its rivals, the company hasn�t been the subject of any cybersecurity reviews from the country�s regulators either.

Put those two favorable circumstances together, and SenseTime�s decided that now�s the time to go public. The company has previously said it was looking to raise up to $2 billion, but the company knows full well that investors � burned by government crackdowns � are wary of Chinese stocks these days. Now, then, it�s looking for nearly $800 million, which would value the company at �just� $17 billion.

Why should I care?

For markets: SoftBank needs a win.
SoftBank will certainly be hoping SenseTime does well: the Japanese conglomerate � which owns 15% of the company � saw its shares fall for the seventh consecutive day on Monday, bringing the decline to nearly 20% in the last week. Some of its biggest holdings have been struggling, after all: crackdown-battered Alibaba has seen its stock plummet, ride-hailing company Didi is being forced to leave the US stock market, and British chip designer Arm is proving more than a little difficult to sell.

Zooming out: China needs to spend.
China�s been (relatively) quiet on the crackdown front lately, which might be because the country has bigger fish to fry � namely managing a slowdown in its economic growth. That might be why it said on Monday that it�ll cut the amount of cash its banks have to set aside for a rainy day. The move will give them more to lend out to people and businesses, which should encourage them to spend, spend, spend.