China is closing the gap

09/26, Business & Management, Global

22/09/2026

China is narrowing the gap with the US in artificial intelligence, despite restrictions on access to advanced chips and technologies. Companies such as Moonshot AI, DeepSeek, and Alibaba have developed powerful models that are increasingly able to compete with those from OpenAI and Anthropic. Models such as Kimi K3, DeepSeek R1 and V4, and Alibaba’s Qwen3.8-Max highlight China’s progress in areas such as reasoning, programming, and agentic AI.

At the same time, concerns about risks such as cyberattacks, disinformation, and a lack of control are growing in both countries. The US also accuses Chinese companies of copying models on a large scale through a process known as “distillation.” China rejects these allegations and is calling for international rules and governance for AI.

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