(Bloomberg) — Chinese artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group Inc. is working with its advisers to update its Hong Kong initial public offering prospectus in hopes of proceeding with the planned listing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company plans to reflect in its listing documents a move by the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday sanctioning the company for its alleged role in creating facial-recognition software used in the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang autonomous region of Western China, the people said.
Preparations are ongoing and the IPO could face further delays, the people said. A representative for SenseTime didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bankers had been gauging investor interest in the IPO when news broke about the plan to add the firm to the Treasury Department’s list of so-called Chinese military-industrial complex companies, timed to fall on Human Rights Day as well as SenseTime’s expected pricing.
Sensetime said in a statement on Saturday that the U.S. government’s accusations are “unfounded and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of our company.” The firm has “been caught in the middle of geopolitical disputes” and it will “take appropriate action to protect the interests of our company and our stakeholders.”
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