The rupee gained 42 paise to close at 91.51 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday (February 2, 2026), a day after the Union Budget 2026-27 was presented, largely as crude oil prices retreated from their elevated levels. Also Read | Rupee hits all-time low of 92 against U.S
The Union Budget 2026 has proposed a significant change that directly affects investors who borrow funds to invest in dividend-paying stocks or mutual funds. The proposal removes the existing tax benefit that allowed investors to claim a deduction on interest paid for such borrowings
West Bengal emerged as a major beneficiary of railway-led infrastructure expansion this weekend, with a series of announcements signalling a significant boost for connectivity in the state, particularly in North Bengal. A day after the Ministry of Railways cleared three new railway line projects
Hours before she was scheduled to lead a Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that Bengalis in the Capital were being
The NFL's 2025 season has provided the most wide-open race for the Super Bowl in years. Now just the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks remain and they will meet on Sunday to decide the NFL champions. It is a title New England have held six times but this is their first Super Bowl since
Chinese AI unicorn MiniMax soars 109 percent in Hong Kong debut
Shares in Chinese AI startup MiniMax soared 109 percent as it went public in Hong Kong on Friday, raising US$619 million in a sign that strong investor demand is rewarding the country's rapidly developing sector.
Rival firm Zhipu AI also saw gains, jumping 20.6 percent on its second trading day after its own US$558 million initial public offering.
This week's flotations come before any IPO announcements from top US startups OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic, known for its Claude chatbot.
Founded in 2022, MiniMax has 200 million users and runs several applications including its flagship video generator Hailuo AI.
Its CEO Yan Junjie was previously an executive at leading AI software company SenseTime, which is blacklisted by the US Commerce Department.
The advancement and application of artificial intelligence "depend on ongoing technological innovation, but even more so on the inclusivity and openness of the entire process", Yan said in Friday's listing ceremony.
"We anticipate that over the next four years, the pace of progress in the AI industry will match that of the past four years," Yan added.
Co-founder and COO Yun Yeyi told Bloomberg that MiniMax had only spent around US$500 million to make optimisation and creative innovations.
Proceeds from the IPO will be used for its research over the next five years to develop foundation models and AI-native products, the firm said.
MiniMax's team includes researchers who previously worked for tech giants such as Google and Microsoft as well as China's Alibaba and DeepSeek.
'Early stage'
Revenue from overseas markets grew from US$100,000 in the nine months ending September 2024 to US$7.8 million during the same period in 2025, the firm said.
It recorded net losses of $512 million in September 2025.
MiniMax said it may continue to record net losses as it is still expanding and investing to support its long-term growth.
The startup also faces a US$75 million copyright lawsuit from Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery over its video-generating tool.
The firm has maintained "there is insufficient evidence to support" the claims.
Analysts told AFP that profits were unlikely any time soon from Zhipu and MiniMax, the so-called Chinese "AI tigers" who compete with tech giants such as Alibaba and ByteDance.
Friday's shares performance shows investors have a "strong appetite for China's tech sector and the AI story", Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking, told AFP.
The whole AI sector is still at an early stage of development, which requires massive investment, he said, adding that profitability is "not the primary focus" for these startups.
"It is about the prospect of which country or firm has the upper hand in gaining market share and staying ahead of the tech curve," he added.
The large language model market in China is estimated to grow to 101.1 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan.
AI will cumulatively contribute US$19.9 trillion to the global economy through 2030 and drive 3.5 percent of global GDP in that year, according to International Data Corporation.
Source: EconomicTimes
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