The Journal. · Tuesday, July 28, 2026
New, powerful, and low-cost AI models from Chinese companies like Alibaba, Z.ai, and Deepseek are challenging the long-held US lead in artificial intelligence. These models, such as Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, are reportedly nearing advanced US capabilities and are significantly cheaper, attracting attention from US companies struggling with high AI compute costs.
“New breakthroughs in powerful, low-cost Chinese AI models are sending shockwaves through Washington and Silicon Valley.”
“The most recent model that has everyone's attention is called Kimi K3. It's, uh, it was made by a company called Moonshot AI. And it's basically been shown on some benchmarks to get be getting close to advanced US capabilities. And that's what turned a lot of heads.”
“It's not just that these models are good. They're also way cheaper than American AI models from companies like Open AI and Anthropic.”