technology
Chinese AI models gain U.S. users as costs draw corporate limits
Several Chinese-developed AI systems rank among the most-used models on a major U.S. marketplace. American companies have begun restricting employee usage of high-cost AI tools while some firms explore lower-priced alternatives.
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Six of the ten most popular models on the AI marketplace OpenRouter were developed by Chinese companies including DeepSeek, Tencent, Xiaomi and MiniMax. AI on June 16 and is positioned by the company as comparable in capability to leading offerings from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
The model focuses on coding tasks. Two U.S. technology executives posted on X that they had used GLM-5.2 extensively, describing it as competitive for daily professional work.
Cost pressures and usage limits Leading U.S. firms have begun capping employee access to paid AI services because token costs have risen sharply. Meta, Uber and Walmart are among the companies that have imposed or plan to impose such limits. Cursor, an AI coding company acquired by SpaceX, stated in March that one of its models was built using an open-source system released by China-based Moonshot AI.
Microsoft evaluation and congressional response Microsoft is considering offering a version of the Chinese model DeepSeek through its Copilot Cowork tool, according to an Axios report earlier this month. The plan aligns with a strategy described by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to provide customers access to a range of lower-cost models.
Sen. Rick Scott stated on June 16 that American companies should not partner with Chinese technology firms on national-security grounds.
Competitive timeline statements SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said last week that a Chinese firm would likely reach the level of leading U.S. models by the first quarter of 2027. AI founder Jie Tang responded that the timeline would be shorter. OpenAI and Anthropic have accused Chinese developers of using distillation techniques to extract data from U.S. models.
