MiniMax

A Chinese AI startup founded in 2021, MiniMax is recognized for its rapid transition from R&D to consumer-facing app services. It pursues a multimodal AI approach covering text, images, audio, and video, and has been particularly quick to commercialize video generation and AI character services.

Hailuo AI, its flagship product, generates natural-looking video from text prompts alone and is rapidly growing its user base both inside and outside China. Talkie is an app that lets users converse in real time with AI characters. MiniMax raised approximately $720 million through a Hong Kong IPO in 2026, raising its global profile.