Chinese startup MiniMax is close to completing a fundraising round of over $250m to develop a ChatGPT-like solution, according to sources. The investment, reportedly led by a Tencent-backed entity, values the company at around $1.2bn. MiniMax was founded by former employees of SenseTime, including Yan Junjie, its former VP. Initial funding was provided by miHoYo, the developer of Genshin Impact, while other early investors included Yunqi Partners and Future Capital. The MiniMax Glow app allows users to create virtual characters and converse with them. The AI underlying it is flexible enough to be used for a range of tasks,
including those of a ChatGPT nature.
MiniMax can be seen as China’s response to Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The latter’s November 2020 launch has piqued interest in next-generation AI platforms, with tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu and Huawei responding with their own. MiniMax and other Chinese tech start-ups are also eager to become early market leaders.
