Open Source · Anthropic · DeepSeek · OpenAI · Claude · China · CNBC Technology
Chinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as OpenAI, Anthropic costs surge
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
Chinese-built AI models are gaining traction among U.S. companies as they narrow the performance gap with leading American rivals while remaining significantly cheaper to use.
Key facts
- The share of tokens used by U.S. companies on Chinese AI models via OpenRouter, a platform that enables developers to access a range of AI models, has sat above 30% each week since Feb
- Z.ai's GLM 5.2 was released to great fanfare in June and saw the fastest adoption of any model tracked by Vercel in 2026, Harpreet Arora, head of agentic infrastructure at Vercel, told CNBC
- While Claude and ChatGPT still dominate in terms of usage on LaunchLemonade, an AI agent platform for regulated industries, GLM 5.2 is now in the top five models on the platform, LaunchLemonade CEO
- In June, AI startup Lindy moved 100% of its traffic from Anthropic's Claude models to DeepSeek, a Chinese company which burst onto the scene with a bombshell release in early 2025 and launched a new
Summary
Recent model releases from Chinese companies, including DeepSeek and Z.ai, are seen by many as highly competitive compared to leading frontier systems from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI. The share of tokens used by U.S. companies on Chinese AI models via OpenRouter, a platform that enables developers to access a range of AI models, has sat above 30% each week since Feb. 8, with that figure rising as high at 46%. The rise of Chinese open source and open weight models comes as the U.S. administration increasingly looks to regulate its most powerful AI models and considers how to halt the rapid adoption of alternatives from overseas. At the end of June, OpenAI said it would limit the rollout of a new set of models on the government's request.