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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business

China's AI Companies Are Winning Users, But Losing Money

iQiyi's chief executive Gong Yu delivers a speech during the iQIYI World Conference in Beijing on April 20, 2026. (Credit: Wang Zhao/AFP)

KEY POINTS

  • While cheaper open-weight models from Chinese firms like Moonshot AI and Z.ai are rapidly capturing global user share, surging inference and training costs continue to outpace revenue growth.
  • The popularity of Chinese open models has exposed how compute-constrained many Chinese tech companies are.
  • Like their American counterparts Anthropic and OpenAI, Chinese AI companies spend more money than they make in revenue.
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