MiniMax says it has registered with China's commerce ministry to release and license models abroad, and a state-media-linked account says DeepSeek has been cleared too, Reuters reports

MiniMax said on 23 October that it had completed technology export registration with China's commerce ministry, covering open-source release and overseas licensing of “certain recently released and upcoming models”, Reuters reported from Beijing.

A day earlier, Yuyuan Tantian, a social-media account affiliated with the state broadcaster CCTV, said MiniMax and DeepSeek had won state approval for global use of their models, Reuters reported. The account said in a second post that overseas internet users had urged other Chinese open-source model makers to follow. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters said. The News International also reported the account's claim.

This develops the Switchboard's 17 October story on Beijing's proposed export controls, which listed 23 AI technologies among 40, including models and agents. The commerce ministry has said most AI technologies will remain freely exportable, with simpler licensing for open-source exports, Reuters reported.

MiniMax's words, as Reuters gives them, describe a registration rather than an approval. Its investor-relations news page showed nothing on the registration when checked, so the statement is not visible from MiniMax's own site.

• Reported MiniMax completed export registration for open-source release and overseas licensing of some of its models, Reuters reports. Reuters, via Central Oregon Daily
• Reported A CCTV-affiliated account says DeepSeek and MiniMax won approval for global use; DeepSeek did not respond to Reuters. Reuters, via AOL
• Reported The News International reports that China cleared DeepSeek and MiniMax for global deployment. The News International