China’s MiniMax and Zhipu Aim to Make History With First AI Model IPOs
While investors in OpenAI and Anthropic build wealth in private markets, Chinese AI startups are taking the public route. MiniMax and Zhipu just filed for Hong Kong IPOs, becoming the first foundation model developers anywhere to seek public listings. The filings come amid market turbulence for unprofitable AI startups — even as Asian peers continue to draw billion-dollar acquisition deals.
- Specializing in generative text, video, and speech, MiniMax is seeking up to $538M — boasting cornerstone investments from AlibabaBABA and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
- Zhipu, also known as Z.ai, is separately filing to raise $559M — riding a tenfold surge in overseas paid users over two months as it undercut US rivals on price.
What to watch: MiniMax and Zhipu are testing IPO waters just days after MetaMETA dropped over $2B on Singapore-based Manus — a startup with Chinese founders that hit $100M in annual recurring revenue just eight months after launch. Western tech giants are hunting Asia’s AI ecosystem for proven traction, but if these listings stumble — they might be the only buyer.