MiniMax released M3.1 Flash on October 19, 2026, saying it scores 42 points on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. It is the company's first reasoning model update since the release of M3.
MiniMax reported 42 points on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, measured on the benchmark test. That compares with 29 points from its predecessor, M3.
M3.1 Flash is built on a new architecture and targets complex reasoning tasks. Availability begins on October 23, initially for developers and researchers.
"Nano Banana Pro prompted by THE DECODER How cheap can AI output get? China: Yes!" said Matthias Bastian, a contributor at thedecoder. The model ties with GLM-5.3-Flash, edges past Gemini 3.8 Flash (41), and trails Deepseek V4.1 Flash 1017 (45).
The announcement follows the release of Deepseek V4.1 Flash 1017. MiniMax said the model shows China's AI price race has no floor in sight.
MiniMax did not say how the model will handle uncertainty, and its 93 percent hallucination rate remains a limitation. The company plans to release the model as open weights on October 23.
Source: thedecoder
