Curiosity · AI Model
MiniMax Hailuo
Hailuo (海螺) is MiniMax's flagship video-generation product, launched in September 2024. It is a text- and image-to-video diffusion-transformer trained by Shanghai-based MiniMax (the team behind the Abab LLM family), and quickly became a social-media favourite for the quality of its motion, physics, and facial animation. Hailuo supports text-to-video, image-to-video, subject-reference shots, and camera-control prompts, offered via a web app and API.
Model specs
- Vendor
- MiniMax
- Family
- Hailuo
- Released
- 2024-09
- Context window
- 1 tokens
- Modalities
- text, vision, video
- Input price
- n/a
- Output price
- n/a
- Pricing as of
- 2026-04-20
Strengths
- High-quality motion and physics
- Strong facial animation from reference photos
- Subject-reference and camera-control features
- Available globally with English interface
Limitations
- Closed model — credit-based API and web access
- Max clip length shorter than Kling / Veo
- Generation queue can be slow under load
- No fine-tuning or custom training
Use cases
- Social short-form creative video
- Portrait and character animation from a reference image
- Subject-consistent multi-shot sequences
- Cinematic camera-motion prompts
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Score | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis video arena | top tier through 2024 H2 | 2024-12 |
| User-preference (LMSYS-style) | consistent top-3 with Kling and Veo | 2024-12 |
Frequently asked questions
What is MiniMax Hailuo?
Hailuo is MiniMax's video-generation model, launched September 2024. It produces short text-to-video and image-to-video clips with strong motion and facial animation.
How do I access Hailuo?
Via hailuoai.video or the MiniMax API. Usage is credit-based.
What is Hailuo best at?
Fluid motion, realistic physics, character animation from reference photos, and cinematic camera prompts. It is a go-to for short social videos.
Sources
- MiniMax Hailuo AI — accessed 2026-04-20
- Artificial Analysis — video leaderboard — accessed 2026-04-20