Chinese open-source AI models gain US adoption as costs of proprietary systems rise
By
Kai Nicol-Schwarz
Summary
Chinese AI companies like DeepSeek and Z.ai are releasing competitive open-source and open-weight models that are gaining traction with U.S. companies, as developers seek cheaper alternatives to expensive proprietary models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The article highlights how AI startup Lindy moved 100% of its traffic from Anthropic to a Chinese model, illustrating a broader trend of cost-driven adoption of open-weight models from China.
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Key quotes
· 3 pulledIn June, AI startup Lindy moved 100% of its traffic from Anthropic to a Chinese model.
Open-source and open-weight models make different parts of an AI model available for developers to inspect, use and sometimes modify.
Recent model releases from Chinese companies including DeepSeek and Z.ai are seen by many as highly competitive compared to leading U.S. frontier systems.
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