The mitotic kinesin superfamily protein KIF14 is essential for cytokinesis and chromosome segregation and increased KIF14 expression is related to a variety of human cancers. In this study, we investigate KIF14 expression in association with clinical variables and the role of KIF14 during tumorigenesis. We found that KIF14 is overexpressed in most primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared with the adjacent normal liver tissues and KIF14 overexpression is associated with tumor grade (P = 0.002), stage (P = 0.013) and poor survival (P < 0.001). Downregulation of KIF14 decreased the capacity of proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, suppression of KIF14 not only decreases cancer cell migration but also induces apoptosis of cells with inactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase‐Akt signaling pathway. Therefore, our current study indicates that KIF14 promotes HCC carcinogenesis and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for human HCC.