AsianFin -- Chinese AI startup MiniMax is under the spotlight after a landmark copyright lawsuit filed by three of Hollywood’s biggest studios, raising questions about the future of one of China’s fastest-growing AI companies.
Walt Disney, Comcast’s Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery on September 16 jointly filed a 119-page complaint against MiniMax in a California federal court. The lawsuit specifically targets the company’s AI-driven image and video generation service, Hailuo AI, alleging widespread copyright infringement.
As one of China’s leading AI startups, often dubbed among the “Six Tigers of AI,” MiniMax has made significant global inroads. Its products reportedly reach over 157 million individual users across more than 200 countries and regions. But this legal challenge underscores the risks embedded in its rapid international growth. The potential damages, which could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, also cast uncertainty over the company’s highly anticipated IPO.
Since early 2025, the domestic AI startup landscape has moved beyond a frenzy of venture funding, turning its attention to public listings. The explosive popularity of AI applications like DeepSeek has intensified competition, and early IPOs have become a top priority for the “Six Tigers.”
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) earlier this year, Chen Yu, co-founder of Yunqi Partners, suggested that MiniMax could be the first Chinese foundation AI model company to go public. This has further elevated market expectations.
Unlike many AI firms that start with language models and later expand into speech and visual applications, MiniMax launched with a multi-modal strategy, a core advantage. Since 2023, the company has rolled out models capable of speech generation, video creation, and image-text understanding, positioning it as a global innovator in AI-driven content generation.
For MiniMax, an IPO is not merely about raising funds—it is about demonstrating commercial viability. Striking the right balance between technological innovation and practical application will be crucial.
The lawsuit highlights a trans-Pacific copyright clash. According to the complaint, MiniMax users could generate videos featuring iconic characters such as Spider-Man, Batman, and the Minions with simple text prompts. The studios argue that MiniMax used these characters to market its Hailuo AI application, promoting it as “Hollywood in your pocket.”
Hailuo AI, launched last year, focuses on multi-modal AI productivity tools for images, audio, and video. It quickly became a global sensation: a16z ranked Hailuo AI first in user activity, tech community ratings, and prompt adherence in its 2025 Global Top 50 AI Applications list.
The lawsuit alleges that MiniMax established a “pirated business model”, systematically copying copyrighted characters to train its AI systems and then profiting from unauthorized content. The studios claim that cease-and-desist letters sent earlier this year went unheeded, prompting the joint legal action.
The plaintiffs are seeking to have MiniMax hand over profits derived from the alleged infringements and compensate them for losses, or alternatively, seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work under the U.S. Copyright Act. They also request an injunction preventing MiniMax from reproducing or distributing copyrighted works and covering attorney fees and litigation costs.
If the case is lost, MiniMax could face damages reaching hundreds of millions of dollars, alongside the risk of a permanent injunction that could prevent Hailuo AI from operating in the U.S. unless its models are rebuilt.
Before the lawsuit, MiniMax’s international expansion had been notable. Its Hailuo AI video platform topped global traffic rankings in January 2025, and the Hailuo02 model ranked second globally in the June 2025 Artificial Analysis Video Model Arena. Hailuo AI has helped creators worldwide generate over 370 million videos, with proprietary multi-modal models serving more than 157 million users.
MiniMax’s overseas strategy has been aggressive. Within a year of launching its AI role-playing app Glow, it rolled out Xingye AI and its international counterpart Talkie, followed by Hailuo AI. Talkie, an AI virtual companion app, achieved over 11 million monthly active users as early as 2024, more than half of them from the United States.
Revenue from Talkie reportedly accounts for a substantial portion of MiniMax’s annual revenue, estimated at over $70 million. This early success laid the groundwork for the launch of Hailuo AI, which quickly became one of the top AI video apps in the U.S., ranking in the top ten most downloaded AI apps in the first half of 2024.
MiniMax’s strategy emphasizes consumer-facing applications as entry points for global markets. Both Talkie and Hailuo AI integrate social and companionship features, increasing engagement and monetization potential. Unlike many startups that perfect technology before launching products, MiniMax follows a “product-first, technology-follows” model, allowing market validation to guide technological development.
While overseas success has been strong, MiniMax faces challenges in China. The domestic version of Talkie, Xingye, has struggled to replicate its international success due to cultural differences, regulatory constraints, and lower willingness to pay. Competing against domestic giants like Kuaishou, Baidu, and Alibaba also presents resource and distribution challenges.
Moreover, regulatory and ethical risks loom over applications like Talkie, which allow users to create personalized virtual companions. In 2024, Talkie was removed from app stores in Japan and the U.S. for crossing regulatory boundaries, highlighting the hurdles MiniMax could face in international markets.
Amid these challenges, MiniMax is eyeing a Hong Kong IPO, potentially making it the first domestic LLM startup to go public. Recent reports indicate the company is close to completing a $300 million funding round, with a post-money valuation exceeding $4 billion, placing it alongside Zhipu as the only domestic AI model companies to reach this valuation.
However, IPO success will require more than hype. Revenue streams remain limited, relying primarily on advertising and subscriptions from Talkie. This concentration creates risk, particularly as competition intensifies and regulatory scrutiny grows. MiniMax must diversify revenue, expand its domestic user base, and navigate copyright disputes to satisfy investors and regulators.
MiniMax has invested heavily in multi-modal AI, launching large language models, speech generation, video generation, and image-text understanding tools. This ambitious approach increases R&D complexity, trial-and-error costs, and computing resource consumption.
To accelerate innovation, the company released multiple products in June 2025, including MiniMax-M1 (open-source inference model), Hailuo 02 (video generation), MiniMax Agent (general-purpose AI agent), Hailuo Video Agent, and Voice Design (voice generation tool). MiniMax also pursued acquisitions, such as Shenzhen-based Luying Technology, to broaden its user base and extend into anime, comics, and gaming communities.
While technology underpins growth, monetization remains critical. The company must explore multiple revenue pathways, including subscriptions, advertising, enterprise licensing, and content creation services. The ongoing copyright lawsuit, single-source revenue dependency, and challenges in domestic market penetration could all influence MiniMax’s IPO valuation and long-term prospects.
MiniMax’s rapid expansion, technological innovation, and international ambitions highlight the potential for Chinese AI startups to compete on a global stage. Yet the Hollywood lawsuit serves as a cautionary tale about legal, regulatory, and commercial risks inherent in AI-driven content creation.
As the company navigates copyright disputes, domestic competition, and IPO preparations, investors and industry observers will be closely watching whether MiniMax can transform its technological capabilities into sustainable, diversified revenue streams while maintaining compliance in international markets.
The coming months will be critical for MiniMax—not only to secure its place among global AI leaders but also to demonstrate that Chinese AI startups can successfully scale, innovate, and navigate the complex legal landscape of international intellectual property.
