Chinese artificial intelligence start-ups Zhipu AI and MiniMax have shown early signs of sustainable commercialisation of their AI models, analysts said, as investors continue to pump up their Hong Kong stocks despite widening losses.
That assessment comes as the companies reported their first earnings since their respective initial public offerings in early January, providing a glimpse into the business models of an industry still in its infancy globally.
The South China Morning Post takes a look into their business models and provides the management view on outlook, along with analysts’ comments.
Pure-play AI companies organise their business models around their AI models, differentiating them from more established tech giants that integrate their models with more lucrative offerings such as cloud services.
Beijing-based Zhipu’s business revolves around its model-as-a-service platform, where the company’s in-house AI models primarily serve institutional clients, either through local deployment in which user data is hosted on-premise or via the cloud.
Shanghai-based MiniMax has more diverse revenue streams, stemming from a similar enterprise-facing model serving business as well as two popular consumer-facing apps – the video generation platform Hailuo AI and AI companion app Talkie.
Known as Z.ai internationally, Zhipu reported revenue of 724.33 million yuan (US$104.8 million) last year, a 131.9 per cent year-on-year increase. MiniMax’s revenue totalled US$79 million in 2025, a 159 per cent year-on-year jump.
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