MiniMax triples revenue to $117M as losses narrow 11%
The Chinese model labs' financial scoreboard keeps shifting — and MiniMax just posted the loudest growth number yet. Its first-half 2026 report lands the same week DeepSeek's leaked books and SenseTime's first-ever profit redrew expectations for how this generation of frontier AI actually makes money.
MiniMax's revenue raced 283% higher — but the losses are racing too
MiniMax reported first-half 2026 revenue of $117 million, up 283% year over year, while its attributable net loss narrowed to $358 million, an 11% improvement against the same period last year. The headline growth is unmistakable — revenue nearly quadrupled — but the arithmetic behind it is the real story: the loss barely moved even as income expanded almost fourfold, which means spending is still climbing roughly in lockstep with everything the company earns. International markets now contribute more than 70% of revenue, a reminder that the biggest overseas consumer of Chinese-built models isn't a data center — it's everyday app users.
The revenue-versus-loss tension is a fair snapshot of where the mid-competition sits. MiniMax has shipped a steady line of popular consumer products and strong models out of Shanghai, and its cross-border revenue share shows a company that broadened its audience faster than almost any domestic rival. But it's still burning heavily to keep that growth going, and the modest 11% narrowing of the deficit suggests profitability isn't around the corner — it's a destination, not an oncoming train.
That puts MiniMax in the same bracket I've been tracking all day. SenseTime just celebrated its first-ever profit, and DeepSeek's leaked financials showed a lean lab running on a shoestring — two very different proof points that China's leading AI builders are converging on the question of whether growth can turn into margin, not whether they can win a benchmark. MiniMax's answer is still being written, and the next half-year will show whether the loss compresses as fast as the revenue line rises.
What to watch: MiniMax's international focus gives it an unusual way out of the domestic price war — whether that translated into a shrinking burn rate shows up in the next half-year report.
Do Chinese labs have to choose between growth and profit in this round, or is there a way to get both? Tell us in the comments.
