Alipay integrated MiniMax's M3 large language model into its Token Pay service, creating China's first payment solution built for Model-as-a-Service. The solution has entered large-scale commercial deployment, allowing developers to invoke payments through natural language. MiniMax shares rose 7.02% in Hong Kong trading Monday.
Alipay integrated MiniMax's M3 large language model into its Token Pay service, creating China's first payment solution built for Model-as-a-Service that has entered large-scale commercial deployment.
"Developers will be able to invoke payment capabilities using natural language, while users can instruct agents to execute tasks in a more reliable and precise manner," Alipay said in a statement. The solution is the first in China tailored for MaaS, a model where companies pay for AI model access by token usage rather than flat subscription fees, and has moved beyond testing into broad commercial use.
MiniMax shares rose 7.02% in Hong Kong trading Monday, with HKD44.89 million in short selling representing 2.118% of turnover. Bank of America initiated coverage of the stock with a Buy rating and a HKD500 price target, while JP Morgan downgraded the shares to Neutral, reflecting mixed analyst sentiment after the stock's rally this year. Beyond Token Pay, MiniMax plans to integrate with Alipay's full suite of AI payment products, upgrading token service capabilities for both developers and individual users.
The M3 model competes with offerings from domestic rivals including Baidu's Ernie and Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen, as well as global models from OpenAI's GPT-4o and Anthropic's Claude. By embedding directly into Alipay's payment infrastructure, MiniMax gains a distribution advantage: developers building on the Alipay platform can now access M3's capabilities without managing separate billing or API keys, lowering the barrier to AI adoption for China's merchants. The integration also positions Alipay as a leader in AI payment infrastructure, potentially setting a template for how other Chinese tech companies structure AI service monetization.
The MaaS market in China is still nascent but growing rapidly as enterprises seek flexible AI access without upfront infrastructure investment. MiniMax's partnership with Alipay addresses a key friction point in that market — payment integration — by allowing developers to pay per token through an existing Alipay relationship rather than setting up new procurement channels. For Alipay, the move extends its role beyond consumer payments into enterprise AI services, a market that global peers such as Stripe and PayPal have also begun targeting through AI-focused payment products.
The deal gives MiniMax a direct revenue channel through Alipay's platform, which serves more than 1 billion users and tens of millions of merchants. MiniMax, which listed in Hong Kong this year alongside peers such as Biren Tech and Knowledge Atlas, is among a wave of Chinese AI startups racing to convert model capabilities into recurring revenue. At a time when investors are scrutinizing AI companies for clear monetization paths, the Alipay partnership provides a tangible commercial proof point that could support the stock's valuation.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
