Model Comparison
GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiniMax M1 40KWhich is better in 2026?
GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiniMax M1 40K — which is better?
GPT-5.6 Luna (by OpenAI) and MiniMax M1 40K (by MiniMax) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
GPT-5.6 Luna outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while MiniMax M1 40K is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose GPT-5.6 Luna if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose MiniMax M1 40K if…
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-5.6 Luna outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while MiniMax M1 40K is better at 0 benchmarks.
GPT-5.6 Luna significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only GPT-5.6 Luna specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Luna specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
GPT-5.6 Luna supports multimodal inputs, whereas MiniMax M1 40K does not.
GPT-5.6 Luna can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-5.6 Luna
MiniMax M1 40K
License
Usage and distribution terms
GPT-5.6 Luna is licensed under a proprietary license, while MiniMax M1 40K uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-5.6 Luna was released on 2026-07-09, while MiniMax M1 40K was released on 2025-06-16.
GPT-5.6 Luna is 13 months newer than MiniMax M1 40K.
Jul 9, 2026
2 weeks ago
1.1yr newerJun 16, 2025
1.1 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-5.6 Luna has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while MiniMax M1 40K's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-5.6 Luna's training data extends to 2026-02-16, but cannot make a direct comparison without MiniMax M1 40K's cutoff date.
Feb 2026
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Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
GPT-5.6 Luna
View detailsOpenAI
MiniMax M1 40K
View detailsMiniMax
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-5.6 Luna and MiniMax M1 40K side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-5.6 Luna vs MiniMax M1 40K.