American AI circles are now feeling the real challenge from China's progress. Previously, Chinese AI was following closely behind America, gasping for breath in pursuit. But this year, we have charted our own direction, and a truly competitive situation has emerged between China and the US, while Europe and Japan are almost out of the picture. At the beginning of the year, DeepSeek made an impressive debut, overturning many people's perceptions and bringing about much "deep thinking." This week, an AI company from Shanghai released a large model named MiniMax-M1, which is the world's first open-source large-scale hybrid architecture inference model, causing quite a stir in the overseas tech community.

(Heated discussions among overseas netizens)

Just recently, some Western media were still questioning the originality of China's AI technology. However, MiniMax-M1, with its innovative linear attention mechanism hybrid architecture, not only outperformed many open-source models in multiple benchmark tests but even approached the performance levels of top-tier companies like OpenAI and Google in certain metrics.

Let's take a look at the technical features of this model. MiniMax-M1 supports up to 1 million tokens of context input, capable of processing text equivalent to an epic novel of 1.4 million words in one go, while consuming only around 30% of the computational power compared to similar products.

Even more impressive is that the MiniMax team completed reinforcement learning training in just three weeks using only 512 NVIDIA H800 GPUs, at a cost of only $534,700. In the context of AI training costs often running into tens of millions of dollars, this is nothing short of a miracle.

(Report by a well-known American tech media outlet)

What does this reflect? It shows the innovative capabilities driven by external pressure and resource constraints for Chinese AI enterprises. The U.S. technology blockade and chip restrictions on China's AI industry were intended to suppress China's development, but they inadvertently spurred significant breakthroughs in algorithm optimization and architectural innovation by Chinese companies.

Of particular note is MiniMax's decision to go open source. In the current increasingly competitive landscape of large AI models, this decision is not simple. There are deeper strategic considerations. First, going open source can rapidly expand influence, allowing global developers to access China's technological achievements. Second, it is also a countermeasure against U.S. technology blockades—while you restrict technology, we will freely share it with the world.

From a broader perspective, this demonstrates the confidence and magnanimity of Chinese enterprises. We do not engage in technological hegemony; instead, we promote the joint development of global AI technologies, contrasting sharply with the approach of certain countries imposing technological barriers. Chinese engineers possess active minds for algorithmic and technological route innovations and a strong desire and sense of mission to apply AI in practical scenarios.

The emergence of MiniMax-M1 undoubtedly introduces new variables into the competitive landscape between Chinese and American AI. From a technical standpoint, China is beginning to lead in certain directions in the field of AI foundational models, forming its unique competitive advantages. For example, the breakthroughs made by MiniMax-M1 in key indicators such as long-context processing and inference efficiency have brought real pressure to American counterparts.

Strategically speaking, the trend toward openness in AI technology may reshape the entire industrial landscape. If Chinese enterprises can continuously release high-quality open-source models, the business model of American enterprises relying on monopolistic profits from technology will be impacted. This holds significant importance for breaking America's technological hegemony in the AI sector.

Imagine boldly—when developers worldwide can freely use models close to GPT-4 levels, the pricing power of OpenAI and others will be challenged. In terms of technological routes, MiniMax’s proposed hybrid architecture and algorithm optimization ideas, like those of DeepSeek, do not rely on brute-force accumulation of computing power but rather enhance efficiency through architectural innovation. This might become the mainstream trend in future AI development.

The U.S. sanctions have forced China to develop extremely robust counter-sanction capabilities across multiple fronts. Consequently, unique and advanced technological solutions and paths will emerge in China. Of course, while MiniMax-M1 performs excellently in certain metrics, compared to top-tier models like GPT-4, it may still have gaps in overall capability. China's AI industry needs continuous innovation to truly achieve leadership.

At the same time, vigilance against possible U.S. countermeasures is necessary. Faced with the rapid development of China's AI technology, the U.S. is likely to further strengthen technological blockades. However, no one can provide a monopolistic answer regarding how AI should evolve. Exploration remains in its early stages. With its vast population and huge market, China will inevitably be one of the main players in the AI era, and no one should attempt to marginalize us.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7517082660695458344/

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