Chinese AI model stocks face selling pressure as MiniMax cuts usage costs

Chinese AI model developers have faced renewed selling pressure in October. Market updates showed declines in MiniMax and Zhipu, although the claimed $150 billion loss in market value could not be independently verified.

The weakness has coincided with further product releases. MiniMax introduced M3.1 Flash on October 19 and said it reduced the cost of running automated tasks by 70% compared with its predecessor. The company also claimed improvements in coding and computer operation.

The release puts lower prices alongside continued efforts to improve model performance. MiniMax said customers could already access M3.1 Flash through its API and subscription products. It plans to release the model weights later, but its announcement did not provide a date.