HONG KONG—Shares of SenseTime Group Inc. jumped in their Hong Kong market debut, after the Chinese artificial-intelligence leader completed a $744 million initial public offering that had been delayed by tensions between Washington and Beijing.

SenseTime shares closed 7.3% above their IPO price Thursday, after rising as much as 23%.

The rally lost steam in the afternoon, and the shares closed at 4.13 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to 53 U.S. cents, giving seven-year-old SenseTime a market valuation of $17.6 billion. The company had sold its shares to the public at HK$3.85 apiece.

SenseTime overcame a hump on its journey to listing in Hong Kong. Days after it first launched what was already a scaled-down IPO, the U.S. government added SenseTime to an investment blacklist that barred Americans from buying shares in the firm.