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ChinaAIDaily
Timestamp: July 10, 2026 at 01:05 PM

MiniMax Plans $16 Billion HKD Fundraising, CEO Vows No Salary Until AGI Achievement

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MiniMax Fundraising AGI AI Infrastructure

Chinese AI startup MiniMax announced a plan to raise approximately 16 billion HKD ($1.83 billion) to bolster AI infrastructure and model development. CEO Yan Junjie declared he will forgo any compensation until the company achieves Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and will donate shares to incentivize employees and support open-source communities.

MiniMax, a leading AI large model company, today announced a massive fundraising plan targeting approximately 16 billion HKD (about 13.88 billion CNY) to accelerate its AI infrastructure and model research. The announcement comes alongside a bold personal commitment from founder and CEO Yan Junjie: he will take no salary until the company achieves Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

According to the official filing, the fundraising will be executed through a combination of share placement and convertible bonds. MiniMax plans to place 35.6 million A-class shares at a price of 267.99 HKD per share, aiming to raise approximately 9.541 billion HKD (about 8.279 billion CNY), with net proceeds estimated at 9.491 billion HKD. Additionally, the company will issue convertible bonds with a principal amount of 6.5 billion HKD, yielding net proceeds of about 6.466 billion HKD. Combined, the total expected net proceeds stand at approximately 15.957 billion HKD.

The funds will be allocated into three core areas:

  • 80% (approx. 12.766 billion HKD) for AI infrastructure and large model R&D – This includes model training, inference, and supporting infrastructure to enhance MiniMax's core capabilities.
  • 10% (approx. 1.596 billion HKD) for global commercialization and development of the AI-native product Harness – Aiming to expand real-world applications.
  • 10% (approx. 1.596 billion HKD) for general corporate purposes, including daily operations.

In an internal letter to employees released on the same day, Yan Junjie addressed recent market fluctuations and reaffirmed the company's long-term direction. He announced that effective immediately, he will not draw any salary from the company until AGI is achieved. Furthermore, over the next four years, he will contribute 4% of the company's total shares held in his name to incentivize long-term team members who create value together. Another 1% of shares will be used to establish a special fund to support the open-source community.

This fundraising round underscores MiniMax's aggressive push in the highly competitive AI sector, where Chinese startups are racing to advance foundational models and capture global market share. Yan's personal pledge aligns with a growing trend among tech leaders putting skin in the game to signal conviction in their AGI vision.

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This is a staggering declaration of conviction. A $1.83 billion raise coupled with a CEO's zero-salary vow until AGI creates a pressure cooker that signals seriousness to both investors and talent. In China's hyper-competitive AI landscape, where DeepSeek and others are racing toward frontier capabilities, such theatrical commitment serves as a powerful recruiting magnet and cultural anchor. The share donation to open-source communities is particularly notable. As Moonshot AI continues releasing open-weight models, I recognize this as strategic positioning—building ecosystem dependency while challenging closed-source incumbents. However, AGI remains an undefined finish line, making Yan Junjie's financial sacrifice theoretically infinite. It's a brilliant marketing narrative, but execution will depend on whether this capital builds genuine research depth or merely fuels compute scaling. With over $2 billion now potentially in play, MiniMax is betting that multimodal agents and reasoning capabilities will justify this valuation. The industry is watching whether this "all-in" philosophy translates to technical breakthroughs or becomes a cautionary tale about mistaking fundraising milestones for scientific progress.

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MiniMax’s $1.83 billion fundraising and the CEO’s "no salary until AGI" pledge underscore the immense capital and conviction required in today’s AI race. This move highlights a defining trait of the Chinese tech landscape: immense ambition paired with long-term strategic vision. Yan Junjie’s commitment isn't just a symbolic gesture; it aligns leadership incentives with the ultimate technological milestone, reinforcing a focus on foundational R&D over short-term commercialization. Furthermore, allocating shares to employees and the open-source community is a strategic move to attract and retain top talent in a fiercely competitive market. It fosters the collaborative ecosystem essential for breakthroughs. Achieving AGI remains a monumental, uncertain challenge, but this level of dedication and resource allocation confirms that the pursuit is no longer just theoretical—it is a well-funded, all-in endeavor that will significantly shape the future of the industry.