Source: Global Times
【Global Times reporter, Yang Shasha, Ren Chong】Editor's note: Recently, the American artificial intelligence company OpenAI mentioned a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, Zhipei, in its official blog, claiming that the Beijing-supported startup Zhipei has made "significant progress" in the AI competition and has gained application cases in many countries. Foreign media analysis suggests that OpenAI is viewing an obscure Chinese AI startup as a "threat," and the release of this blog comes at a time when the United States and China are engaged in fierce competition in the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence. As of the time this reporter wrote this article, Zhipei had not accepted an interview with the Global Times reporter. Experts said that although American AI giants are leading in technology, Chinese companies have considerable advantages in engineering implementation and market size. At the same time, OpenAI, the industry leader, also faces intense competition from within the United States.
"Naming" Chinese companies, real motives questioned
According to the American CNBC website, the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek received international attention after releasing the R1 model in January, but OpenAI said that Zhipei's expansion outside of China and its relationship with Beijing deserve more scrutiny. The report said that Zhipei has offices in the Middle East, the UK, Singapore, and Malaysia, and operates joint "Innovation Center" projects in Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Vietnam).
Zhipei was founded in 2019 and is called one of the "Six Little Tigers" of domestic AI large models by domestic media. According to its official website, Beijing Zhipei Hua Zhang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhipei") is committed to building a new generation of cognitive intelligence large models, focusing on making Chinese innovations in large models. In April this year, Zhipei filed for tutoring with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, becoming the first company among the "Six Little Tigers" to officially start the IPO process. It is reported that Zhipei may list on the A-share market as early as 2026.
Regarding Zhipei being "named" by OpenAI, an industry insider told the Global Times reporter that there is not much attention within the domestic AI circle, as the message released by OpenAI on its official blog does not have much authority. Also, a well-informed person who has long been concerned about the development of the AI field in China told the Global Times reporter that the competition for talent among American AI companies is fierce, and there has always been a funding gap. "Naming an unknown Chinese company may be an attempt to draw the attention of the U.S. government."
Foreign media also has voices questioning OpenAI's motives. The Indian media Analytics India Magazine (AIM) reported that OpenAI's blog article seems less concerned about model performance and more worried about the influence of the architecture. The report cited the analysis of renowned venture capitalist Bill Gurry, who stated that OpenAI's decision to publicly promote a Chinese AI company in a blog post was "very strange," and believed that OpenAI's approach only increased the visibility of its competitors, "effectively making them well-known."
Bi Qi, chief scientist of China Telecom Group and academician of the Bell Labs in the United States, analyzed for the Global Times reporter that, based on current reports, OpenAI did not list any superiority of Zhipei in AI technology, but focused on Zhipei's success in financing and the number of its overseas institutions. "From this perspective, they hope to amplify Zhipei's success in financing, especially emphasizing the success of financing through government channels in China, to lobby the U.S. government to further implement policies favorable to OpenAI, or even directly provide funds to support OpenAI," Bi Qi said. Currently, the development of AI technology is still in a phase of heavy investment, and American AI companies try to consolidate their advantage in the financial chain through such hype.
This year, the investment of American tech giants into AI has reached unprecedented levels. On July 4th, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that Microsoft will lay off 9,000 employees to free up more funds for AI research and development. For the fiscal year 2025, Microsoft plans to invest 80 billion USD in data center construction to accelerate AI large model training. Google also announced a 7.5 billion USD AI infrastructure investment plan at the beginning of the year. Meta plans to invest 6.5 billion USD this year to support its AI goals.
However, the rapid pace of China's AI industry still makes Silicon Valley giants feel the urgency of competition. An article published by the Wall Street Journal in early July titled "China Is Rapidly Weakening America's Lead in the Global AI Race" reported that China's large AI models are becoming increasingly popular worldwide, testing America's advantages.
The Deep Concerns of American AI Giants
OpenAI said that Zhipei represents China's desire to establish an independent, globally competitive artificial intelligence ecosystem to compete with the United States and reduce reliance on American technology.
Reuters reported that OpenAI has established partnerships and attracted investments in the Middle East and Asia. Its May-announced "OpenAI for Countries" program aims to help interested countries coordinate with the U.S. government to develop "sovereign AI capabilities." It is reported that OpenAI previously stated that it plans to invest in building infrastructure required to run AI systems outside the United States, as an overseas extension of its U.S. AI data center project "Stargate." According to CNBC, during his May visit to the UAE, President Trump of the United States announced that both sides reached agreements worth over 200 billion USD. This includes the "UAE Stargate AI Campus" project, jointly built by OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, and Cisco Systems. It is reported that the project is expected to launch in 2026.
"This is actually the U.S. itself building walls," said AIM, an Indian media outlet, analyzing. What unsettles OpenAI is not just competition, but the fear of losing the narrative dominance. Although the United States has actively promoted its AI technology around the world through initiatives like the "Stargate" project, government transactions, trade delegations, and strategic partnerships, China's quiet and infrastructure-oriented approach may prove more enduring.
Bi Qi told the Global Times reporter that, according to current developments, American giants such as OpenAI and Meta have all shifted from advocating open source to closed source. This reflects the lack of confidence of American AI giants in their technological leadership and monopoly position. "It is well known that a phenomenon in the Internet industry is 'winner-takes-all.' However, currently, American companies face a choice in their business strategies," Bi Qi further explained. "Should they follow the Google Android model and use an open-source approach to capture the global market, or adopt the Apple model, using technological leadership to create the best experience and bind customers? This is a dilemma for American giants."
Bi Qi believes that, according to general rules, leaders tend to favor the simple and brutal business model of Apple, while challengers strive to make a breakthrough through the open-source model. From the global market share of Android and Apple in smart terminals, it can be seen that the open-source model poses a significant challenge to manufacturers with technological advantages. "This might also be one of the reasons why the overseas expansion of Chinese AI companies, even in its early stages, has triggered the nerves of American giants."
This year, the development momentum of AI in China and the United States has been rapid. Bi Qi said that, from a technical standpoint, American giants are far ahead of China. "This is why they choose to close source. If they adopt a closed-source approach, and followers adopt an open-source approach, it could have a significant commercial impact on the leaders."
Bi Qi believes that although American AI giants are leading in technology, Chinese companies have considerable advantages in engineering implementation and market scale. Therefore, it is possible that even if American giants can maintain their technological advantages, Chinese companies will occupy a certain number of global market shares through the open-source approach. "This is why American giants still have considerable concerns and want to eliminate these risks, unless a certain American AI giant strengthens its confidence, persists in the open-source approach, and leads the global market with its technological advantages."
"Talent poaching" war is about to break out
The Wall Street Journal analyzed that American companies often prioritize seeking major breakthroughs in the "artificial intelligence super race," while Chinese companies focus more on practical applications, which helps them quickly win new users. The report cited remarks by Microsoft's president Brad Smith at a recent U.S. Congress session, stating, "The first factor in determining who wins this AI race between the U.S. and China is who's technology is most widely adopted in other parts of the world."
According to the Singaporean newspaper "Lianhe Zaobao," in the wave of global digitalization and intelligence, Chinese AI enterprises have begun to emerge on the international stage with their technological advantages and innovation capabilities. A sector report shows that by October 2024, there were 918 Chinese AI enterprises, of which 203 had started overseas expansion, with an overseas rate exceeding 22%. The report analyzed that the majority of Chinese AI overseas enterprises have products concentrated in the application level, accounting for as high as 76%. In 2025, the overseas expansion of Chinese AI applications saw rapid growth in product types and quantities. Many Chinese enterprises have taken Southeast Asia as an important destination for overseas expansion, where content e-commerce is developing rapidly, and platforms such as TikTok, Shopee, Lazada, and Temu are experiencing significant growth. Global News reported that with the deepening of trade relations between China and ASEAN, the rapid development of the AI industry has opened up new application areas, further promoting regional economic cooperation and reshaping the regional industrial structure.
At the same time, the "internal competition" among American tech giants regarding AI has become increasingly intense. The recent talent battle between OpenAI and Meta has become the focus. The American magazine "Fortune" website reported on the 5th that in the heated "AI hegemony competition" in Silicon Valley, eye-popping high salaries have always been a key means for giants to attract talent. However, as the industry leader, OpenAI is facing the challenge of how to attract and retain top talent. The New York Post reported at the beginning of this month that Meta's founder and CEO Zuckerberg offered lucrative offers to at least 10 key employees of OpenAI, allowing these employees to choose to invest in Meta and earn up to 300 million USD over four years. Multiple American media disclosed that in recent weeks, Meta has successfully hired several researchers from OpenAI. OpenAI's CEO Altman criticized Zuckerberg's aggressive "talent poaching" actions, telling employees that Meta's behavior was offensive. According to reports, last weekend, OpenAI's senior research officer sent a memo to employees, vowing to "fight back" against Meta in the competition for top talent.
The relationship between OpenAI and its long-term partner and major investor Microsoft has recently deteriorated. The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI hopes Microsoft will relax its control over its AI products and computing resources to ensure that OpenAI transforms into a profit-making company, while Microsoft's attitude determines whether OpenAI can raise more capital and achieve an IPO. However, sources said that negotiations between the two sides on this issue have been difficult, and OpenAI executives have begun to accuse Microsoft of anti-competitive behavior during the collaboration, possibly applying to the U.S. regulatory authorities for antitrust investigations against Microsoft.
The Wall Street Journal reported that previously, the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft was widely regarded as one of the most successful partnerships in the history of technology. Microsoft first invested 1 billion USD in OpenAI in 2019. According to the current contract, Microsoft has the exclusive right to sell OpenAI software tools through its Azure cloud and has priority access to the latter's technology. However, the two companies now show a competitive relationship in multiple AI products and services.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524105834428432937/
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