Convenient, Open, and Powerful Enough! US Media: Chinese AI Models Penetrate US Market, Open-Source and High Value-for-Money as Key Breakthroughs

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday (26th) that Chinese AI models are rapidly expanding in the United States, driven by high value-for-money and open-source advantages. Their penetration is steadily increasing, from developer tools to enterprise applications.

Citing Raffi Krikorian, CTO of US open-source software company Mozilla, the report notes he has integrated Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model into his daily workflow, stating its response speed surpasses Anthropic's Claude model. Krikorian is also using Zhipu AI's GLM-5.2 for document and email processing tasks.

This trend follows the industry disruption caused by DeepSeek last year. Since the beginning of this year, Chinese companies such as Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, and Alibaba have successively launched new models. These models now approach the performance of major US AI products, yet at significantly lower prices.

Curt Meinhold, founder of US startup LilyList, said most users don't need the most advanced and expensive AI models—'good enough' models are more attractive in the market.

Open-source strategy is another key strength of Chinese AI models. Unlike the closed ecosystems of some US firms, Chinese models generally allow developers to modify and redevelop them, drastically reducing customization costs.

Experts from the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyzed that US restrictions on certain AI technologies have inadvertently created market opportunities for Chinese competitors. With pricing advantages and open ecosystems, Chinese AI models are poised to further expand their influence in the US and global markets.