MiniMax Reports 159% Revenue Growth as China AI Startup Eyes Global Expansion

China AI Pioneer MiniMax More Than Doubles Sales In Hot Market

MiniMax Group Inc. reported a better-than-expected 159% surge in revenue in 2025, reflecting the torrid growth that's drawn investors to China's leading OpenAI rivals. Revenue for the full year ended December climbed to $79 million, versus an average analyst estimate of $71.4 million. Net loss for the same period was $1.87 billion compared with the $465.2 million loss the year prior, though the majority of that stemmed from fair value losses on financial instruments. It was the first time MiniMax announced earnings results since it raised $600 million in its initial public offering in Hong Kong at the start of the year. The strong sales underscored solid demand for low-cost, open-source Chinese models that rival the best of Silicon Valley. At the same time, rampant discounting, competition for users and the sheer cost of hiring and training AI models are swelling losses for most of the industry's players. MiniMax sells its underlying tech to business clients and offers AI apps and tools to both domestic and overseas consumers. It's among the few remaining independent model builders in China after a period of industry consolidation, competing against AI-native rivals like Zhipu as well as Big Tech firms including ByteDance Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg may send me offers and promotions. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. MiniMax's shares have more than quadrupled since their debut, fast approaching Chinese internet heavyweights like JD.com Inc. and Kuaishou Technology in market capitalization. Now valued at about $30 billion, the Shanghai-based outlet joined a recent flurry of model releases from Chinese AI developers ahead of a highly anticipated upgrade by rival DeepSeek. MiniMax's latest M2.5 large language model trails the best open-source offerings from peers including Alibaba and Zhipu, according to benchmarking site Artificial Analysis. However, M2.5's smaller size and lower price have helped it become the most popular model on distribution platform OpenRouter on a weekly basis. Still, MiniMax remains a fraction of the size of frontier US labs like OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker recently raised $110 billion in a funding round that valued the startup at $730 billion. The US startup's annualized sales topped $20 billion in 2025, up from roughly $6 billion the year prior. MiniMax is drawing increasing scrutiny as it tries to expand globally. Anthropic PBC last month accused DeepSeek, MiniMax and Moonshot of violating its terms of service by using outputs from its Claude model to train their own algorithms -- a practice known as distillationBloomberg Terminal. Walt Disney Co. and other US film studios sued MiniMax in September, accusing the Chinese firm of pirating their intellectual property. Founded in 2021 by Yan Junjie, MiniMax set out to pursue multi-modal capabilities from the start. The company has served more than 236 million users across consumer products, from AI avatars to its Hailuo video generator, according to its prospectus. Read more about MiniMax and Chinese AI models Anthropic Says DeepSeek, MiniMax Distilled AI Models for Gains MiniMax Founder Was Once Dismissed as a Fraud by Big Tech: Q&A China's New AI Stars Make Billions From US Tech Rivalry Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Sue Chinese AI Startup MiniMax

China's Minimax reports strong revenue growth, charts broader AI ambitions

BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax (0100.HK), opens new tab aims to become a global AI platform company, it said on Monday, setting out plans for faster expansion and a broader product lineup after posting strong 2025 revenue growth. The company reported a 159% year-on-year jump in revenue to $79 million, with more than 70% of sales outside China. Revenue from products built directly around AI, primarily consumer subscriptions, surged 143.4%, while its open platform and enterprise services segment saw similar growth. The announcement was MiniMax's first earnings update since raising HK$4.8 billion ($614 million) in its Hong Kong initial public offering in January. The performance highlights rising demand for cheaper, open-source-based models from Chinese providers such as MiniMax and DeepSeek, which position themselves as lower-cost alternatives to proprietary U.S. systems. DeepSeek focuses on text-based reasoning models and developer tools, while MiniMax emphasises multimodal capabilities spanning text, video and audio. On a post-earnings call, CEO Yan Junjie said MiniMax aims to compete as both a model maker and product platform, while keeping its open-source approach to attract outside developers. The company plans to release its latest M3 model in the first half of this year. However, MiniMax remains far smaller than U.S. competitors. OpenAI said its annualized revenue topped $20 billion in 2025. MiniMax is also still loss-making, posting a net loss of $1.87 billion in 2025 compared with a $465.2 million loss a year earlier. Most of the 2025 loss came from changes in the value of financial instruments it holds. "We believe AI is not currently a zero-sum market, but rather one where annual incremental growth far exceeds the existing base," Yan said, highlighting opportunities in coding, office productivity and video generation. ($1 = 7.8216 Hong Kong dollars) Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh. Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

China's Minimax reports strong revenue growth, charts broader AI ambitions

BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax aims to become a global AI platform company, it said on Monday, setting out plans for faster expansion and a broader product lineup after posting strong 2025 revenue growth. The company reported a 159% year-on-year jump in revenue to $79 million, with more than 70% of sales outside China. Revenue from products built directly around AI, primarily consumer subscriptions, surged 143.4%, while its open platform and enterprise services segment saw similar growth. The announcement was MiniMax's first earnings update since raising HK$4.8 billion ($614 million) in its Hong Kong initial public offering in January. The performance highlights rising demand for cheaper, open-source-based models from Chinese providers such as MiniMax and DeepSeek, which position themselves as lower-cost alternatives to proprietary U.S. systems. DeepSeek focuses on text-based reasoning models and developer tools, while MiniMax emphasises multimodal capabilities spanning text, video and audio. On a post-earnings call, CEO Yan Junjie said MiniMax aims to compete as both a model maker and product platform, while keeping its open-source approach to attract outside developers. The company plans to release its latest M3 model in the first half of this year. However, MiniMax remains far smaller than U.S. competitors. OpenAI said its annualized revenue topped $20 billion in 2025. MiniMax is also still loss-making, posting a net loss of $1.87 billion in 2025 compared with a $465.2 million loss a year earlier. Most of the 2025 loss came from changes in the value of financial instruments it holds. "We believe AI is not currently a zero-sum market, but rather one where annual incremental growth far exceeds the existing base," Yan said, highlighting opportunities in coding, office productivity and video generation. (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh. Editing by Mark Potter)