Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and open-source artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Hugging Face found that the total share of downloads of new Chinese-made open models rose to 17 percent in the past year, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, saying that China has overtaken the US in the global market for open AI models, gaining a crucial edge over how the powerful technology is used around the world.

The key is not to fixate on whether this figure is accurate, nor to hype or view China-US AI competition through a zero-sum lens, but to recognize what it reveals: The rapid development of China's open AI models and the emphasis on inclusive cooperation, underscoring the country's growing role as a major contributor to the global open-source AI ecosystem.

China's open AI models have advanced with remarkable speed in recent years, reflecting both the maturity of its developer community and the country's commitment to building accessible digital infrastructure. These efforts have enabled China to play an increasingly important role in the global open-source AI ecosystem, contributing models, datasets, and tools that are available to developers around the world.

This progress is especially meaningful against the backdrop of some countries' intensifying disruption of normal technological cooperation. As some countries impose tighter export controls or construct artificial barriers to restrict the diffusion of advanced technologies, open-source collaboration becomes even more vital for ensuring broad-based access to AI capabilities.

China's increasing open AI models provide an important alternative pathway - one that may help narrow the global AI technology divide. For many developing countries that lack the resources to build frontier AI systems independently, open models developed in China offer cost-effective tools that can accelerate digital transformation, foster local innovation, and broaden participation in the global technology landscape.

For example, DeepSeek and other Chinese large-language models are now widely used in engineering training programs across Africa, significantly improving the efficiency of local development while reducing costs. Entrepreneurs in countries such as Nigeria have said that Chinese models not only match their US counterparts in performance but also run on inexpensive hardware - an essential advantage where computing resources are scarce and costly.

These examples show that China's open-source AI effort is already producing tangible benefits for other countries, especially in terms of affordability, accessibility, and local relevance. China's open-source approach allows developers in the Global South to access AI tools without relying on expensive proprietary systems. As a result, Chinese open-source AI is not only expanding its international user base but also supporting localized innovation and digital transformation in developing economies.

China has consistently regarded AI, a cutting-edge technology that will profoundly transform human society, as an international public good for the benefit of all. The country advocates for collaborative efforts in both technological development and governance, aiming to promote sound and orderly progress in the field. 

In the long run, China's active participation in the open-source AI domain not only supports the continuous upgrade of its own technological capabilities, but is also expected to benefit a wider global developer community, thereby positively influencing the overall innovation ecosystem. As more Chinese developers contribute models, code, and technical insights, the global community gains richer resources and greater pluralism in foundational technologies.

This, in turn, encourages healthy competition, reduces dependence on a small set of proprietary systems, and strengthens the resilience of global innovation networks. Ultimately, China's rise as a major contributor to open-source AI underscores a broader trend: Technological progress is increasingly driven not by isolated national efforts, but by shared platforms that enable collective intelligence, global participation, and inclusive development.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn