# China doesn’t need to build better AI than the US to win the tech race > Source: > Published: 2026-07-29 23:00:00+00:00 # China doesn’t need to build better AI than the US to win the tech race Cheaper Chinese open-weight models may just need to prove themselves good enough for businesses to adopt UP ONE day, down the other. That pretty much sums up the US stock market – and my corresponding blood pressure – these days as investors try to work out whether the artificial intelligence boom is a bubble waiting to burst. One development that made waves was the unveiling of Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s Kimi K3 open-weight model on Jul 17, which reportedly rivals frontier models from Anthropic and OpenAI at a fraction of the cost. Much of the AI race has been framed as a contest over who can build the smartest model. But that may no longer be the right question to ask. [TRENDING NOW](/pulse?ref=trending-now) Singapore banks’ battle for wealth talent goes beyond private bankers Keep moving, keep learning, live fully: Lessons from actor Tay Ping Hui and a ‘granfluencer’ Yeoh Pei Xien: YTL’s third-gen scion with a pastor’s heart Singtel explores Nasdaq-SGX dual listing for data centre arm Nxera, local data centre Reit