Businesses turn to cheaper Chinese AI models as U.S. rivals get more expensive

Industry
โดย Fortune·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Some consumer-facing companies are experimenting with cheaper Chinese AI models to cut rising costs, even as U.S. firms like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic offer some of the world's most advanced but priciest systems. DoorDash co-founder and CTO Andy Fang said using a model from Chinese startup Moonshot AI is better quality and cheaper, and the company is launching an experimental tool called DoorDash CLI in limited beta. Cursor used Moonshot's Kimi to build its Composer 2 coding agent, while Lindy has reportedly dropped Anthropic's tools in favor of DeepSeek's V4 models, according to the Financial Times. Airbnb and Siemens are also experimenting with moving daily operations to Chinese AI companies like Alibaba and DeepSeek. A March 16, 2026 study from Hugging Face found that Chinese open-source models accounted for 41% of downloads, though experts warn of security risks such as data sovereignty violations and critical vulnerabilities in model integrity.

Impact on stocks 8

Artificial Intelligence · 3 stocks
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
9988
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

Alibaba is mentioned as one of the Chinese AI companies that businesses like Airbnb and Siemens are experimenting with.

Consumer Discretionary · 2 stocks
Airbnb Inc
ABNB
± MixedDemandrelevance

Airbnb is experimenting with moving daily operations to Chinese AI companies, but no concrete outcome or commitment is stated.

Robotics & Physical AI · 1 stocks
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
SIE
± MixedDemandrelevance

Siemens is experimenting with moving daily operations to Chinese AI companies, but no specific impact or commitment is detailed.

Real Estate · 1 stocks
Health Care · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 2

Off-coverage companies 5

DeepSeekPrivate▲ Positive
Demandrelevance

Companies like Lindy and Airbnb are adopting DeepSeek's V4 models, increasing demand for its AI services.

Moonshot AI (北京月之暗面科技有限公司)Private▲ Positive
Demandrelevance

DoorDash and Cursor are using Moonshot's models, indicating growing customer adoption.

CursorPrivate▲ Positive
Technologyrelevance

Cursor used Moonshot's Kimi to build its Composer 2 coding agent, showcasing its AI model's capability.

LindyPrivate▲ Positive
Demandrelevance

Lindy dropped Anthropic's tools in favor of DeepSeek's V4 models, boosting DeepSeek's adoption.

Hugging FacePrivate± Mixed
relevance

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