China’s Embrace of Open-Source AI Could Be Short-Lived
China’s recent rise in open-source AI has caught global attention, especially after DeepSeek released a powerful and freely available language model earlier this year. While some assumed this signaled China outpacing the U.S. in AI, Meta’s AI chief Yann LeCun clarified that open-source models, regardless of origin, are now leading the field, surpassing even some private ones. Top tech figures in China, like Eddie Wu of Alibaba and Pony Ma of Tencent, are embracing the open-source approach, where AI code can be used, shared, or improved by anyone. The Chinese government appears to support this strategy. In January, DeepSeek’s CEO…