Chinese AI startup MiniMax has launched three new models: MiniMax-Text-01, MiniMax-VL-01, and T2A-01-HD, backed by Alibaba and Tencent. These models aim to rival those from OpenAI and other U.S. firms, with MiniMax-Text-01 reportedly outperforming Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash in key benchmarks. The new models include capabilities for text, image, and audio processing, with MiniMax-Text-01 featuring an impressive context window of 4 million tokens. Despite their availability, MiniMax's models are under a restrictive license, limiting their use in competing technologies amidst heightened scrutiny from the U.S. government regarding AI exports to China.