China has taken a bold step towards reclaiming its place as a leader in artificial intelligence, and it may just be the key to its future global supremacy. The launch of DeepSeek’s R1, an open-source AI model, has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, disrupting financial markets and challenging US dominance.
Offered for free and royalty-free, R1 has made it possible for Chinese firms like Alibaba to release their own models freely, giving them a significant advantage over their US competitors. The low compute costs of R1, which were reportedly less than $6m, have also raised concerns about the commodification of AI.
The US risks losing ground unless it embraces open-source strategies, as early internet giants like Google and Facebook leveraged free services to drive adoption before monetizing. China’s approach is seen as a strategic workaround, allowing them to leverage open-source ecosystems to refine and scale models without shouldering all costs.
While the open-sourcing of AI has its benefits, there are also concerns about the potential risks, including the loss of intellectual property and the potential for global rivals to repurpose and surpass US tech. China’s strict internet censorship regime is also a limitation, which could disadvantage Chinese AI models when competing for trust and relevance in international markets.
However, this shift in approach may ultimately benefit the US, as it recognizes that long-term AI dominance depends on adoption, accessibility, and innovation at scale, rather than proprietary control. The great irony is that China’s “socialist AI” approach may just be the key to US tech dominance, if they can adapt and leverage openness and decentralization to reshape the global playing field.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/7/9/why-the-future-of-ai-may-be-open-and-chinese