Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Sue Chinese AI Startup MiniMax

Walt Disney Co., Comcast Corp.’s Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. are suing Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax, accusing the company of pirating the studios’ intellectual property.

Founded in 2021, Shanghai-based MiniMax has created several generative AI models that run its companion apps, such as video and image editor Hailuo AI and Talkie, a chatbot that competes with Character.AI in the US. Considered one of China’s so-called AI Dragons, the company is valued at about $3 billion, is aiming for a public market listing as soon as this year, Bloomberg has reported.

In the complaint, ...