Talkie's US chart bet: No.4 AI app in America, then an App Store vanishing

AI character companion app: users create and chat with AI personas; revenue comes from subscriptions, in-app card gacha and advertising.

That a companion game dressed as an AI app could win Western app stores from Shanghai — monetized by ads and gacha cards — before US scrutiny of Chinese AI arrived.

Parent MiniMax, founded 2021, raised ~US$600M in 2024 at a ~US$2.5B valuation (Yahoo Finance); ~300 staff worked on Talkie and its China twin Xingye vs fewer than 100 on Hailuo AI (36Kr).

MiniMax tested demand at home with Glow, launched October 2022. Loose moderation made it a hit — a product manager told 36Kr that 80% of users generated borderline adult content — until app stores pulled it in March 2023. The team rebuilt the same product for overseas markets as Talkie, launched June 2023.

Talkie became a top-3 companion-AI app worldwide and drove the bulk of MiniMax's ~US$70M expected 2024 revenue (FT via SCMP), most of it advertising. Bloomberg reported in October 2024 that Chinese AI apps could face TikTok-style scrutiny; MiniMax kept its US presence low-profile and tightened Talkie's content controls, while CEO Yan Junjie pitched a Southeast Asia pivot.

Around mid-December 2024, Talkie became unsearchable on the US Apple App Store while the Android version kept working. The reason was never officially given; MiniMax told reporters the removal was temporary.

Positioning beat model quality: the team launched with a weaker model and papered over quirks, because 'Talkie isn't an AI app — it's a companion game', as one product manager put it.

Going global-first from Shanghai was rare in mid-2023 and gave Talkie a year of open runway before US-China AI scrutiny sharpened.

Engagement mechanics — memory, gacha cards, adaptive personas — converted into a female-heavy paying base (about 40% female users vs Character.AI's 20%).

Concentration risk was structural: most of MiniMax's revenue came from one app exposed to one regulator's mood.

Consumer AI monetizes like games, not software: retention, gacha and ads decide winners. And a China-origin consumer hit has a shelf life capped by geopolitics.

Talkie stayed a pillar of the business: MiniMax's 2025 revenue was US$79 million, up 159% year on year, and post-IPO reporting in April 2026 still names Talkie — with Hailuo AI — as one of the company's two popular consumer-facing apps. MiniMax completed its Hong Kong IPO in early 2026, and CEO Yan Junjie said ARR had passed US$150 million by February 2026, driven mainly by enterprise demand, which reduced the dependence Talkie once represented. The circumstances of the December 2024 US App Store removal — and whether Talkie fully returned to iOS in the US — were never officially detailed.