Chinese open source AI gains ground among Western tech companies
Pinterest, a popular platform for discovering trends and ideas, has adopted Chinese AI models to enhance its recommendation engine. This move towards Chinese technology follows the January 2025 release of DeepSeek R-1, an open source model that has triggered a wave of similar initiatives by Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba and ByteDance, according to the BBC.
Pinterest’s chief technology officer highlighted the advantages of these open source models. They enable custom solutions and cost savings. That marks a contrast with the closed models favoured by American companies such as OpenAI. Improved accuracy and affordability are key factors driving the adoption of Chinese AI technology by various Fortune 500 companies.
Airbnb, for instance, relies heavily on Alibaba’s Qwen model for its AI customer service agent, due to its high quality, speed and cost-effectiveness. This trend is visible on Hugging Face, a platform for downloading AI models, where Chinese models often occupy the top spots in terms of downloads and community engagement.
The rise of Chinese AI models can be attributed to several factors. The open source nature of these models ensures broader accessibility and adaptability, which is particularly attractive to start-ups looking for cost-effective solutions. In addition, the release of DeepSeek and Alibaba’s models has challenged the dominance of Meta’s Llama models in the open source landscape.
Recent reports suggest that Chinese AI models are catching up with or even surpassing their international counterparts in terms of capabilities and adoption. Some experts attribute this success to government support for open-source development in China, in contrast with the profit-driven approach of American companies such as OpenAI.
American companies continue to invest heavily in proprietary models in order to generate revenue. At the same time, the open-source movement, led by Chinese developers, is democratising access to advanced AI technology. This could potentially reshape the global AI landscape.
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