China Rewrites the ‘Soft Power’ Playbook for the A.I. Age

Key Points:

• China is promoting open-source artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology as a form of modern soft power, contrasting with the U.S. approach of closed, proprietary A.I. systems.
• Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized open-source A.I. as a "rare and historical opportunity" to foster global collaboration and reduce reliance on expensive U.S. tech giants.
• The Chinese government and companies advocate for open-source A.I. due to its lower cost, potential to accelerate adoption worldwide, and claimed security parity with closed systems.
• This push for open A.I. reflects a broader strategic competition between U.S. firms like OpenAI and Google, which keep their technology proprietary, and fast-evolving Chinese rivals such as DeepSeek and Alibaba.
• Xi framed A.I. development as a collective global effort rather than a competition dominated by a single country, signaling China's desire to shape the future global A.I. landscape.