Chinese Startup MiniMax Said To Complete $250 Million Funding Round

Based on people familiar with the matter, Chinese startup MiniMax, which is working on AI solutions similar to Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT, is close to completing a more than $250 million fundraising round that will value it at around $1.2 billion.

The agreement comes amid a global AI buzz sparked by ChatGPT that has spread to China, bolstering stocks in AI firms and prompting a flurry of domestic companies, including Alibaba, Huawei, and Baidu, to announce competing products.

According to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not public, MiniMax's latest fundraising drew new investors such as an entity linked to technology giant Tencent.

MiniMax was founded in 2021 by some former SenseTime employees, including Yan Junjie, a former vice president at the Chinese AI firm, according to two other people.

Its fundraising demonstrates growing investor interest in what could be China's answer to OpenAI, even as venture capital investment in the country faces pressures due to a shaky economic recovery and U.S. chip export controls.

Chinese regulators have proposed tighter oversight of the burgeoning popular technology, with some investors and advisers anticipating significant deal activity in the country's broader AI-generated content sector in the second half of this year.

Big tech companies are already investing heavily in developing their own AI models, while new startups led by well-known entrepreneurs, such as MiniMax, are also joining the fray.

Wang Huiwen, co-founder of on-demand service giant Meituan, announced the formation of a new AI company, Beijing Lightyear Technology, with a $50 million investment.

Kai-Fu Lee, the former CEO of Google China, has announced the launch of his new startup, Project AI 2.0. Wang Xiaochuan, founder of China's No. 2 search engine Sogou, announced in April that he had founded Baichuan Intelligence with a $50 million investment.