January 9, 2026, 5:56 AM EST. China-based AI startup MiniMax Group surged as much as 90% on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, underscoring Beijing's push to fund AI growth amid U.S. chip curbs. The IPO raised HK$4.8 billion ($620 million) and topped local rival Zhipu AI, which rose about 13% on its debut. MiniMax, backed by Alibaba and Tencent, develops large language models and AI applications such as chatbots, image generation and video synthesis. Proceeds will fund R&D. By 3 p.m., MiniMax traded near HK$298, up from the HK$165 offer price. The company reported revenue of $53.4 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2025, up about 174% year over year, but a net loss of $512 million, noting monetization remains nascent.
