China’s MiniMax curbs overseas access to new AI video model over copyright disputes

China's artificial intelligence company MiniMax has open-sourced its new H3 video model but imposed licensing restrictions on users in the US, EU, UK, and South Korea, citing regulatory uncertainties and ongoing copyright-related legal proceedings. The model's weights are freely available to developers, but those in major markets must apply for a formal licence, while paid API access remains globally available.

China’s MiniMax curbs overseas access to new AI video model over copyright disputes H3 model enters the generative video battleground, but licensing carve-outs restrict use in US, EU, UK and South Korea Minxiao Chang /author/minxiao-chang in Shenzhen artificial intelligence company MiniMax https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3362540/video-ai-minimax-challenges-bytedance-low-price-open-weights-new-h3-model?module=inline&pgtype=article has open-sourced its new H3 video model but imposed licensing conditions on users in major overseas markets including the US and European Union, underscoring the copyright challenges https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3357005/surge-ai-related-court-cases-fuels-calls-china-clarify-its-laws?module=inline&pgtype=article in generative video AI. After the Shanghai-based company released the model’s weights to developers on Monday, users found that the licence restricted free access in the US, EU, UK and South Korea. The weights – the underlying parameters that encode its intelligence – allow developers to use, copy, modify and distribute the software without paying MiniMax. To ensure compliance, developers in major markets must “apply for a formal licence”, the company said. compliance controls https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3360399/china-works-ai-safety-benchmark-regulators-target-large-model-risks?module=inline&pgtype=article and safeguards were in place, it could authorise usage. Access via application programming interface – a paid subscription through the firm’s website or authorised third parties – remained globally available, it said. MiniMax said the regional carve-out was due to regulatory uncertainties and ongoing copyright-related legal proceedings.