Zhihu invests 1.5 billion yuan to establish a subsidiary, shifting its AI strategy from products to business platforms.

According to publicly available business registration information released on September 2, Beijing Zhizhe Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhizhe Exploration") was recently established with a registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan. Its legal representative is Zhou Yuan, the founder of Zhihu. Its business scope includes big data services, internet data services, development of basic artificial intelligence software, and development of artificial intelligence application software.

Public information shows that Zhizhe Exploration is wholly owned by Beijing Zhizhe Tianxia Technology Co., Ltd., with Zhou Yuan serving as a director and Tang Liu as the chief financial officer. Currently, Zhihu has not yet announced the new company's positioning, staffing, or specific business plans.

Beijing Zhizhe Tianxia is Zhihu's core operating entity within China. Zhihu's 2025 annual report shows that this company operates the Zhihu website and app and is included in the consolidated financial statements of the listed company through a scheme of arrangement. Therefore, Zhizhe Exploration is a new company established within Zhihu's domestic operating system, rather than an external investment.

However, the 1.5 billion yuan is only the registered capital and cannot be directly equated with the cash already invested in the AI business. Current company law stipulates that the registered capital of a limited liability company is the amount of capital subscribed by shareholders, which should, in principle, be fully paid up within five years from the date of establishment. Capital contributions can also be in the form of non-monetary assets such as intellectual property rights and equity. As of now, there is no publicly available information regarding the actual paid-in capital, the method of capital contribution, and the progress of capital contribution for Zhizhe Exploration.

The establishment of the new company occurred during a period when Zhihu was accelerating the validation of its AI business model.

In June 2024, Zhihu launched its AI search product, "Zhihu Direct Answer," and has since gradually expanded its AI applications to search, content distribution, and community operations. By 2026, the company's AI strategy had further extended to brand content assets, expert data solutions, and developer tools.

During its Q2 earnings call in August, Zhihu's management stated that its open data platform had attracted over 17,600 professional developers, and AI Works had included over 2,600 projects; the number of clients for its AI content asset business increased by 50% quarter-over-quarter. However, management also indicated that this business has not yet generated stable, large-scale revenue contributions, and the new AI business is still in the commercial validation phase.

From a financial perspective, Zhihu still has room to support its phased investments in AI. In the second quarter, the company achieved revenue of 690 million yuan, a 5.9% increase quarter-on-quarter and a 3.7% decrease year-on-year; its adjusted net profit for the first half of the year was 6.906 million yuan.

As of the end of June, the company held a total of RMB 4.424 billion in cash, time deposits, restricted funds, and short-term investments. R&D expenses for the same period were RMB 109 million, reflecting the company's focus on efficiency while expanding into new businesses.

In terms of business scope, Zhizhe Exploration can provide an independent legal entity for Zhihu's data services and AI applications, but existing information cannot prove that Zhihu will relocate its large-scale model development, Zhihu Direct Answer, or expert data business to the new company.

The actual weight of the new entity still depends on how the registered capital is paid, whether the core team and assets are transferred, and when the AI business generates separately identifiable revenue.

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