Chinese AI startup DeepSeek trained the debut version of its artificial intelligence model for approximately $6 million, compared to roughly $100 million spent by OpenAI to train GPT-4

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Chinese AI company MiniMax released MiniMax M3.1 Flash on October 19, 2026, featuring 428 billion total parameters, about 23 billion active parameters in a mixture-of-experts architecture, and a 1,000,000-token context window.

MiniMax reported that MiniMax M3.1 Flash operates about three times faster than MiniMax M3, with median output speeds consistently exceeding 170 tokens per second.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash API pricing is set at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens, with cached input reads priced at $0.015 per million tokens.

MiniMax confirmed that an earlier build of MiniMax M3.1 Flash operated anonymously under the name Space Bunny, processing over 200 trillion tokens prior to its official launch.

Meta Platforms Inc. expects capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026, narrowing its previous bottom range from $130 billion to fund data center and AI infrastructure buildouts.

Chinese AI startups have closed performance gaps with US market leaders by offering more affordable pricing and customizable models compared to proprietary systems from OpenAI and Anthropic PBC

Chinese state media affiliate Yuyuantantian stated on October 22, 2026 that Chinese AI companies including MiniMax can continue commercialization efforts as usual

Chinese authorities forced the unwinding of Meta Platforms Inc.'s acquisition of Manus, an AI agent startup with Chinese roots, due to strategic technology export concerns

MiniMax reported that MiniMax M3.1 Flash can reach peak generation speeds exceeding 200 tokens per second.

DeepSeek, Tencent Holdings Ltd., and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. declined or did not respond to requests for comment regarding DeepSeek's $15 billion second funding round

Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May 2026

Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek raised approximately 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) in its second private funding round after a $7 billion round in June, nearly doubling its initial target from 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan

U.S. venture capital firm Coatue Management and United Arab Emirates investment funds are negotiating to lead OpenAI's proposed $30 billion funding round

A valuation of $1.25 trillion would make OpenAI the most valuable private company in history

Concerns over debt-financed artificial intelligence infrastructure spending and a sell-off in U.S. technology stocks contributed to investor resistance against OpenAI's $1.4 trillion valuation pitch

OpenAI rival Anthropic PBC confidentially filed an initial public offering prospectus in June 2026 and is targeting a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2.5 trillion

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar informed employees in August 2026 that OpenAI targets becoming a public company in 2027

OpenAI filed a confidential initial public offering prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2026

Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) and WeChat parent company Tencent Holdings Ltd. participated as major investors in DeepSeek's $15 billion funding round

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman stated in September 2026 that attempting an initial public offering in 2026 would be ill-advised