Sources say MiniMax, a domestic AI start-up, has raised more than $250 million, with investors including Tencent affiliated entities.

CTOnews.com June 1 news, according to Reuters news, Chinese start-up MiniMax is about to complete a total of more than 250 million US dollars (currently about 1.777 billion yuan) of financing, financing after completion of its valuation will reach about 1.2 billion US dollars (currently about 8.532 billion yuan).

MiniMax was founded in 2021 by former employees of Shangtang Technology, including Yan Junjie, former vice president of Shangtang Technology and vice president of Shangtang Research Institute, sources said. The company is working on AI solutions similar to ChatGPT.

Other sources said investors involved in MiniMax's round also included Tencent affiliates, but MiniMax and Tencent have not responded to Reuters 'requests for comment.

With the continued popularity of generative AI, a number of domestic industry leaders have joined the popular track this year. CTOnews.com previously reported that Wang Huiwen, the former co-founder of Meituan, also announced at the beginning of this year that he would personally invest US $50 million to establish Beijing Guangnian Technology Co., Ltd., officially entering the field of artificial intelligence, aiming to build China's OpenAI, and said that the next round of financing has already subscribed US $233 million by top VC.

Kai-Fu Lee also openly recruited global talents in March this year to join the Chinese version of ChatGPT Company Project AI 2.0. Wang Xiaochuan, founder of Sogou, announced the creation of Baichuan Intelligence in April this year, and has received $50 million in start-up funds, and said that a large model will be released by the end of the year, also targeting to build a Chinese version of OpenAI.