If you're wondering whether global investors still care about Chinese artificial intelligence companies, MiniMax has an answer: they're betting $492 million that the appetite is alive and well.

The IPO Details

The Chinese AI startup is gearing up for a Hong Kong public offering that positions it as a homegrown challenger to OpenAI. MiniMax plans to sell roughly 25.4 million shares at 151 to 165 Hong Kong dollars each, targeting a minimum raise of 3.83 billion Hong Kong dollars, according to Bloomberg.

That's the baseline. If investor demand comes in strong, the offering could balloon to approximately $712 million through upsize and greenshoe options. The whole package would value MiniMax at around $6.5 billion, based on company filings.

Big Names Writing Big Checks

This isn't some speculative venture with no institutional backing. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are leading the cornerstone investor group, committing roughly $350 million between them. That's the kind of validation that gets attention in capital markets.

The underwriting team reads like a who's who of global finance: China International Capital Corp., UBS, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. MiniMax started taking investor orders on Wednesday and expects to begin trading on January 9.

Racing Against Rivals in a Hot Market

Timing matters, and MiniMax has chosen an interesting moment. The company will make its public debut the same week as Zhipu AI, another Chinese AI firm viewed as a top domestic contender. Both companies are essentially racing to capture investor enthusiasm while it's running hot.

MiniMax plans to funnel most of the IPO proceeds into AI model research and product development over the next five years. The company generated $30.5 million in revenue in 2024, so we're talking about a business that's still in growth mode rather than mature profitability.

Hong Kong's IPO Renaissance

The broader context here is that Hong Kong's IPO market is having a moment. The city raised $36.5 billion from 114 IPOs in 2025, according to LSEG data. That momentum has been fueled by two things: rising enthusiasm for Chinese AI companies following DeepSeek's success, and high-profile global deals like Meta Platforms Inc.'s (META) acquisition of Manus, Reuters reported.

So MiniMax isn't just betting on its own technology and business model. It's betting that it can ride a wave of investor interest in Chinese AI at exactly the right time. With Alibaba's backing and a valuation north of $6 billion, the market will soon tell us whether that bet pays off.