/AI%20(artificial%20intelligence)/Close-%20up%20of%20computer%20chip%20with%20AI%20sign%20by%20YAKOBCHUK%20V%20via%20Shutterstock.jpg)
Chinese AI startup MiniMax is emerging as a formidable competitor to DeepSeek, having recently launched breakthrough products, including the M1 reasoning model, which uses less than half the computing power of DeepSeek-R1. The Shanghai-based company, valued at $2.5 billion in its March 2024 funding round, is preparing for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) as early as this year.
MiniMax represents one of China’s “four new AI tigers” competing against Western giants, such as OpenAI. The company’s latest innovations include the Hailuo 02 video generator and MiniMax Agent, which indicate it is poised to gain traction in the generative AI space.