Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba launched its Coin 2.5 Max model on Thursday (30 January 2025), saying its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) software surpasses the capabilities of existing models.

The rapid emergence of Chinese competitors is expected to heighten Washington’s concerns, as US companies have spent billions of dollars developing AI-based models, while other Chinese companies have launched similar programmes at much lower costs.

The announcement comes days after China’s DeepSec launched an advanced chatbot, causing a stir in Silicon Valley and putting the spotlight back on Sino-American competition in the field. Despite huge investments by US companies, Chinese models have made rapid progress at a lower cost.