Chinese AI startup MiniMax is going public this week at a $7 billion valuation. But its model flopped in my testing.

I ran MiniMax through three tests with real world questions. These are harder to game than benchmarks.

Let me show you where MiniMax does well and where it struggles…

Round #1: Coping With Long Winter Nights

It’s cold and dark most of the time here in North Jersey these days. What are the best ways to prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Minimax has some good ideas, like using a light box. I actually have a drawing tablet, which Andrew Huberman recommended.

But Minimax doesn’t cite any sources. How can I rely on this answer?

I’m giving this round a C. 

Round #2: The Top Stocks of 2025

2025 was an incredible year for markets. But I’m curious which stocks did the best. 

Can MiniMax help? 

Minimax gave me a list that looked great and even provided citations.

But when I clicked the source, it was completely wrong. Minimax was looking at the best performing stocks of 2024. 

This is a common problem even among good AI models. They don’t know what day it is!

I don’t understand why this happens. It seems like an easy thing to fix.

I’m giving this round an F. 

Round #3: Handicapping the 2028 Election

We’re seeing a lot of dissent in the Republican Party these days. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is raising his profile by handling Venezuela. Meanwhile, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has attacked Trump for intervening overseas.

With these different factions forming, who will get the nomination in 2028? 

Let’s ask Minimax… 

Vance is the clear frontrunner. MiniMax likes Rubio for vice president.

Minimax made an interesting point: if one of them failed to get the presidential nomination, the other would likely get vice president. It could wind up Rubio-Vance, not just Vance-Rubio.

Minimax cited quality sources, including The Hill. With original thinking and good sourcing, I’m giving this response an A! 

Wrap-Up

MiniMax earned a C overall in my testing.

Its responses are inconsistent. One will be excellent, the next useless.

If you’re relying on these outputs to power your application, Minimax just isn’t reliable enough. If you want something open source, Kimi or DeepSeek are better choices.

Have you tried Minimax?

More on tech:

China’s Zhipu AI Is About to IPO, But its Product Is Weak 

Gemini Beats Grok and GPT 5.2 In a Head-to-Head Test

Kimi 2 Thinking — A Real Threat to ChatGPT and Grok

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