AI was a serious focus as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese language President Xi Jinping met this week.
Essentially the most superior U.S. fashions lead most benchmarks, however Chinese language corporations like DeepSeek, Z.ai and Alibaba have launched new fashions with main efficiency positive aspects in duties reminiscent of coding.
Based on utilization knowledge shared with CNBC, the worldwide adoption of Chinese language fashions by corporations has elevated considerably in 2026.
Chinese language AI fashions have gone from a comparatively small share of utilization to a majority on two main developer platforms that present gateways for corporations to entry fashions from totally different suppliers. On OpenRouter, they accounted for 57%-67% of tokens used within the week of Sept. 14, up from 6%-13% in February. On Vercel, their share rose to 55% in August from 11% in January.
OpenRouter’s knowledge associated to corporations within the U.S., Europe and what it defines because the “International South” — 82 international locations throughout Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. Vercel didn’t specify its knowledge’s geographical breakdown.
Concern is rising in Washington, the place two U.S. Home Committees are investigating the impact of rising adoption of Chinese language fashions.
The U.S. has sought to protect its AI lead by proscribing Chinese language AI corporations from shopping for essentially the most superior chips via export controls.
Washington is anxious about them accessing Nvidia chips remotely, by way of abroad knowledge facilities, and gaining floor through the use of “distillation” the place new fashions mimic older, extra established ones.
Chinese language AI represents “actual financial and safety dangers for the USA,” mentioned Daniel Remler, a senior fellow within the expertise and nationwide safety program on the Heart for a New American Safety (CNAS), a suppose tank.
“The last word concern is that the combination of Chinese language AI fashions pulls international locations right into a Chinese language expertise sphere of affect that hardens into geopolitical alignment,” he informed CNBC.
Peter Walker, head of insights at OpenRouter, informed CNBC, Chinese language open supply fashions launched this 12 months “can credibly carry out in superior agentic use circumstances, particularly with regard to coding, in a approach that was simply not true in late 2025.”
They’re additionally “extremely cost-effective in comparison with most fashions from American labs,” he added.
Earlier this week, OpenAI and Anthropic both announced new, cheaper fashions. Dianne Penn, head of product administration, analysis and labs at Anthropic, informed CNBC that the corporate was attempting to make its fashions solutions “extra environment friendly, so it makes use of much less tokens relying in your effort setting.”
Value is essential in rising adoption of Chinese language fashions, Harpreet Arora, head of agentic infrastructure at Vercel, informed CNBC. “Chinese language fashions have gotten succesful sufficient for extra duties at a a lot decrease value. As soon as a mannequin meets the standard bar for the job, that value distinction turns into compelling.”
However he added that corporations nonetheless wish to use frontier U.S. fashions for some extra difficult duties.
Companies in what OpenRouter defines as “International South” have been the most important customers of Chinese language AI fashions on the corporate’s system in current weeks.
Greater than two-thirds — 67% — of the tokens these corporations use are on Chinese language fashions. About half the tokens on OpenRouter are utilized by corporations within the U.S.
“Southeast Asia particularly may even see vital uptake of Chinese language AI fashions given the shut financial and cultural linkages [with China] plus rising digital infrastructure,” mentioned CNAS’ Remler.
“Wherever from Lagos to São Paulo to Jakarta the place entrepreneurs and governments are in search of low cost, open fashions, will look first to Chinese language AI.”
