(May 30): China’s MiniMax Group Inc has begun preparations for a domestic listing, according to a regulatory filing, as the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) startup challenges local rivals including DeepSeek.
The filing comes after the Shanghai-based company’s initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in January, when it joined a wave of Chinese AI firms turning to public markets to fund costly model development and expansion.
MiniMax is part of a group of Chinese AI firms, including developers such as DeepSeek, racing to build and commercialise large language models. The company has said it plans to keep investing in development, commercialisation and cloud infrastructure, underscoring the capital-intensive nature of the sector.
MiniMax develops large “foundation models” capable of generating text, images, audio and video, powering consumer applications and corporate services. It has expanded rapidly since its founding in 2021, building a global user base and generating a significant share of its revenue overseas, though it remains unprofitable as it invests heavily in model development, infrastructure and global expansion.
MiniMax now has more than one million users of its AI-based enterprise services, up fivefold from six months ago, the company’s president, Yun Yeyi, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television this week.
The company’s annual recurring revenue — a gauge of forward-looking sales — more than doubled over the past two months to at least US$300 million (RM1.2 billion), exceeding its own projection thanks to an influx of users tapping into its M2.7 model released in mid-March, according to Yun.
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China’s AI sector is capital-intensive and highly competitive, pushing firms toward public markets to fund scaling despite ongoing losses, while pricing pressure is emerging as a key battleground. Last week, DeepSeek said it would make permanent a steep discount on its flagship V4-Pro model to attract developers and intensify competition in an increasingly crowded market.
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