Cyber Lobster (赛博龙虾) hasn't even started working for humans — it already pushed MiniMax to a RMB 300 billion valuation

Viral agent, instant riches

A viral AI agent nicknamed “Cyber Lobster” (赛博龙虾) has ignited a fever across China’s tech scene and, in the process, vaulted MiniMax (MiniMax) into the spotlight. It has been reported that MiniMax’s market value briefly hit HKD 382.6 billion — roughly RMB 336 billion — after a two-day trading surge that followed widespread buzz about the agent. Cities from Shenzhen’s Longgang district to Hefei and Wuxi moved to issue policies encouraging firms and developers to “raise lobsters.” Who benefits when attention becomes a commodity? For now, MiniMax and its founder are the headline winners.

Hype far outstrips fundamentals

The surge came despite thin fundamentals. It has been reported that MiniMax’s 2025 revenue was about USD 79 million, with an adjusted net loss near USD 250 million (around RMB 17.2 billion). The company listed in January 2026 at HKD 165 per share and peaked at HKD 1,286 before retreating. Founder Yan Junjie — reportedly holding about 25% — saw his paper wealth spike into the tens of billions of HKD at the high point. But paper fortunes can evaporate just as fast: the stock fell 6.48% on March 11 and slid further the next day.

Security, costs and a quick chill

The frenzy has a darker side. It has been reported that multiple high‑profile misuses and bugs — from an agent erasing an executive’s emails to instances of agents deleting drives or opening network backdoors — prompted CNCERT (China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team) to issue a blunt security warning about high‑privilege, loosely configured agent plugins such as OpenClaw. Enterprises installing these agents face not only technical complexity and token‑burning costs (individuals can spend tens of yuan a day; enterprise workflows can run into thousands), but also meaningful cyber risk. Regulators and local governments are watching closely.

From meme to tool — but how durable is the craze?

MiniMax’s technical bets — early adoption of a mixture‑of‑experts (MoE) architecture and a broad multimodal roadmap spanning text, voice, images and video — make it a natural fit for agent workloads. Yet the market’s rotation from mania to caution was swift: peer firms like Zhipu AI (智谱AI) and Xunce Technology (迅策科技) also saw sharp reversals after initial jumps. Against a backdrop of U.S. export controls and China’s push for domestic AI sovereignty, startups will keep racing to productize agents. But will Cyber Lobster remain a mass cultural phenomenon, or slowly revert to a niche professional tool? For now, the answer looks market‑driven — and uncertain.