// AI hot topic · 2026-W43 #6 · Models & software
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: stronger agents at 70% lower cost
MiniMax M3.1 Flash: hotspot #6 of 2026-W43, covered by 7 outlets, first reported on 2026-10-19 (Beijing time). Below: what happened, why it matters, a dated timeline of all 7 sources, and the models, prices and tools involved.
- First report (BJT)
- 2026-10-19
- Outlets
- 7
- Sources listed
- 7
- Rank in 2026-W43
- #6
Week 2026-10-19 – 2026-10-25Updated 2026-10-26Sources: official & media reports only
2026-W43 is still in progress; the ranking and wording may change when the report is finalised on Monday.
Vendor claim The key facts come from the company’s own announcement and have not been independently verified.
01What is MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
What happened
On 19 October MiniMax released M3.1 Flash, an open-weight multimodal model for agents, coding, computer use and cybersecurity with a 1M-token context; it claims nearly 3x faster inference and 70% lower cost. The anonymous 'Space Bunny' model that processed over 200 trillion tokens in community testing was an early version.
Why it matters
The Decoder notes a 13-point jump on the Artificial Analysis index at half the cost, matching DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 on both—China's price war has no floor in sight.
Who it affects
Agent and coding-tool developers and teams using low-cost models.
Written from the 7 reports below (2026-10-19 – 2026-10-22, Beijing time). We add no facts beyond what the sources say.
02MiniMax M3.1 Flash: timeline and sources
Oldest first. Headlines are in the original language and link to the original article.
- 10-19 08:00 MiniMax M3.1 Flash now available on AI Gateway for free · Vercel Changelog Related
- 10-20 02:22 MiniMax M3.1 Flash shows China's AI price race has no floor in sight · The Decoder Related
- 10-20 06:25 MiniMax launches M3.1 Flash model, says it cuts AI agent costs by 70% · SiliconANGLE AI Related
- 10-20 10:35 MiniMax M3.1 Flash 更新：Computer Use 国产第一，成本降 70% · 开源中国 Original source
- 10-20 12:50 MiniMaxが新AIモデル「MiniMax M3.1 Flash」を発表、AIエージェントの性能を強化しつつ利用コストを70％削減 · GIGAZINE Related
- 10-20 14:49 MiniMax M3.1 Flash: $0.60 Agent Model With One Big Catch · Zenn LLM Related
- 10-22 08:30 話題の爆速LLM「MiniMax M3.1 Flash」の実力とは？特徴とPythonでの実装例 · Zenn AI Related
04Related models, prices and tools on AIMap
Models mentioned
Latest MiniMax models and API prices
- MiniMax-M3$0.313 in / $1.25 out per 1M tokens · 2026-05-31
- MiniMax-M2.7$0.313 in / $1.25 out per 1M tokens · 2026-03-18
- MiniMax-M2.5$0.313 in / $1.25 out per 1M tokens · 2026-02-12
Products and tools
Agent-ScomputerinferenceMiniMax
Open-source repos: MiniMax on GitHub
05Related hot topics
Anthropic launches Claude Haiku 5.5 with 1M context from $0.10 per Mtok
2026-W40 · #3 · Models & softwareAnthropic releases Claude Sonnet 5.5; Opus 5.5 arrives on Amazon Bedrock
2026-W43 · #2 · Models & softwareAnthropic launches Claude Duet, a proactive personal agent taking on Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots
2026-W43 · #4 · Models & softwareDeepSeek open-sources its DeepInfer inference engine, with NVIDIA and Huawei Ascend support
2026-W42 · #1 · GeneralGoogle opens Gemini 4 Argon to developers, enterprises and paying users
2026-W42 · #2 · GeneralMeta's Muse Wonder puts it back among frontier labs
FAQ
What is MiniMax M3.1 Flash?
On 19 October MiniMax released M3.1 Flash, an open-weight multimodal model for agents, coding, computer use and cybersecurity with a 1M-token context; it claims nearly 3x faster inference and 70% lower cost. The anonymous 'Space Bunny' model that processed over 200 trillion tokens in community testing was an early version.
When did MiniMax M3.1 Flash happen?
The first report we collected was on 2026-10-19 (Beijing time), the latest on 2026-10-22: 10-19 1 report, 10-20 5 reports, 10-22 1 report. It was #6 in the 2026-W43 weekly report (2026-10-19 – 2026-10-25).
Is the MiniMax M3.1 Flash report reliable? What are the sources?
7 outlets covered it. The earliest report we collected is “MiniMax M3.1 Flash now available on AI Gateway for free” (Vercel Changelog, 2026-10-19 Beijing time). Sources include Vercel Changelog, The Decoder, SiliconANGLE AI, 开源中国, GIGAZINE. Labels: Vendor claim — The key facts come from the company’s own announcement and have not been independently verified. All 7 source links are listed on this page in date order.
How much does the MiniMax-M3.1-Flash API cost?
Official list price: $0.149 in / $0.597 out per 1M tokens, context 1M (checked 2026-10-20). Third-party channel prices and history are on the MiniMax-M3.1-Flash model page.
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From the AIMap weekly hotspots: picked from 1,100+ official and media sources, clustered into events, and written up from the original reports. 2026-W43 weekly report · All hot topics