MiniMax lifts Alibaba cloud ceiling to US$1.2 billion
The Chinese AI developer raised its three-year Alibaba cloud purchase cap by 220 percent, a signal of how fast training bills are climbing.
Illustration: a sprawling data center hall with long rows of server cabinets under cool blue light.
MiniMax has raised the three-year ceiling on its cloud purchases from Alibaba by 220 percent to US$1.2 billion because training and serving its own models is consuming more compute than it budgeted for.
At a glance
- Three-year ceiling for Alibaba cloud: US$1.2 billion, a 220 percent increase.
- New annual limits: nearly US$300 million (2026), US$400 million (2027), US$500 million (2028).
- Previous limits stood at US$115 million, US$125 million and US$135 million a year.
- The 2026 API budget rises from US$650,000 to US$7.5 million; the three-year cap is now US$62.5 million.
- First-half revenue climbed 283 percent to US$116.6 million, with enterprise sales up 700 percent.
MiniMax has lifted the three-year ceiling on its cloud purchases from Alibaba by 220 percent, to US$1.2 billion. The South China Morning Post reported the change, citing Hong Kong stock exchange filings. The reason is plain: training and serving the company's own models is eating through compute faster than it planned for.
What changed in the numbers
The 2026 cap was originally set at US$115 million. It now rises to nearly US$300 million, roughly triple the old figure. The annual limit for 2027 moves from US$125 million to US$400 million, and the 2028 limit from US$135 million to US$500 million.
Added together, the three annual tiers produce the new US$1.2 billion total; the old tiers came to US$375 million. The revised agreement runs through 2028 and covers both sides of the workload: model training and inference, the compute burned on every incoming request.
The API line grows too
Beyond raw compute, MiniMax also buys API services from Alibaba. That budget rises for 2026 from US$650,000 to US$7.5 million, more than a tenfold jump. Across three years the cap now stands at US$62.5 million, roughly twenty times the previous limit.
Why the top-up was needed
The filings show MiniMax had already spent two-thirds of its budget by the end of June. Demand was rising on the revenue side as well: first-half revenue grew 283 percent to US$116.6 million. Enterprise sales did the heavy lifting, up 700 percent.
The Shanghai company's lineup includes its M-series large language models, the H3 video generation model, and the consumer app Hailuo AI. All three draw on compute, at training time and again on every request a user sends.
What this report does not settle
This story rests on a single newsroom, and we have no second independent confirmation. It also does not explain why the agreement required disclosure at all, for instance whether Alibaba holds a stake in MiniMax. The report gives no share valuation, no detail on which chips are involved, and no direct quotes from the companies or from analysts. We are leaving those gaps open rather than filling them.
FAQ
How much can MiniMax pay Alibaba under the new deal?
Up to US$1.2 billion over three years, split into nearly US$300 million for 2026, US$400 million for 2027 and US$500 million for 2028.
Why does MiniMax need so much more compute?
The filings show it had burned two-thirds of its budget by the end of June; training and running the M-series models, the H3 video model and the Hailuo AI app cost more than planned.
How much revenue does MiniMax generate?
US$116.6 million in the first half, up 283 percent. The growth came from enterprise sales, which rose 700 percent.
