Shanghai-based AI startup MiniMax's CEO Yan Junjie (R), a former executive at the Chinese leading AI software company SenseTime which was blacklisted by the US Commerce Department in 2021, attends the company's listing ceremony at the Hong Kong stock exchange on January 9, 2026. Shares in Chinese AI startup MiniMax soared as much as 78 percent as it went public in Hong Kong, raising 619 million USD in a sign that strong investor demand is rewarding the country's rapidly developing sector. (Photo by Tommy WANG / AFP via Getty Images)