Chinese open-source AI models are increasingly being adopted by U.S. businesses. Spending on model serving platforms rose to 6.1% in July.
These models offer lower cost and more control.
The shift may pressure U.S. labs on pricing.
What happened
A growing share of businesses are paying for model serving platforms that offer open-source and Chinese-developed models. This share rose to 6.1% of AI-spending businesses in July, up from 4.5% in January 2026, according to Ramp's AI Index.
Why it matters
Open-weight models are attractive because they offer more fine-tuning opportunities, are much cheaper, and give enterprises more control, including assurance that their data isn't used to train competing products. Notable examples include Moonshot's Kimi K3 and Z.AI's GLM-5.3-Flash.
What to watch
Whether U.S. frontier labs have hit a price ceiling. Anthropic's Fable 5, priced at roughly $10 per million tokens, accounts for just 6% of Anthropic's tokens and 11.4% of spend, while cheaper alternatives are gaining traction.
Ask the AI about this article →
Chinese open-weight AI models are increasingly seen as viable alternatives to closed-source U.S. models. Ramp's data shows a rise in businesses using model serving platforms that host such models, indicating growing interest. This is partly because open-weight models offer cost savings and customization, as noted by Alex Brunicki of Backed VC. Companies like Thomson Reuters and Harvey have already adopted open-source models for specific tasks, citing lower cost and adequate performance.
The pricing pressure is evident. Anthropic's Fable 5, despite being advanced, captures only a small share of Anthropic's token and dollar spend, suggesting businesses are not willing to pay a premium when cheaper models suffice. This trend may force U.S. labs to reconsider their pricing strategies. The potential release of a larger GLM-5.3 model with strong cyber capabilities could further disrupt the market, though its impact remains to be seen.
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