When Chinese artificial intelligence developers Zhipu AI and MiniMax made their debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange in January, investors initially saw one as a better bet than the other. Beijing-based Zhipu closed its first trading day on January 8 with a market capitalisation of HK$57.9 billion (US$7.4 billion). A day later, Shanghai-based MiniMax listed at HK$106.7 billion, almost twice as large.