Tech Brew Ride Home · Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Chinese AI models have seen a significant surge in usage by US companies, capturing over 30% of token usage weekly since February 8th, according to OpenRouter data. This trend is driven by the competitive performance and lower costs of Chinese AI models compared to their US counterparts. The situation arises as Beijing considers restricting overseas access to its advanced AI technologies.
“According to OpenRouter, Chinese AI models have drawn more than 30% of token usage by US companies each week since February 8th, peaking at 46%, which would be up from 11% over the previous 12 months. So, it's more than tripled, quoting CNNBC.”
“Recent model releases from Chinese companies including DeepSeek and ZAI are seen by many as highly competitive compared to leading frontier systems from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI.”
“Chinese AI models are particularly attractive to American companies now as AI costs skyrocket.”