# Chinese startup Moonshot’s powerful new AI model closes gap with US rivals > Source: > Published: 2026-07-17 09:30:27+00:00 # Chinese startup Moonshot’s powerful new AI model closes gap with US rivals It is said to outperform all competitors except Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 CHINESE artificial intelligence pioneer Moonshot touted a model that performs on par with some of the top-tier platforms from OpenAI and Anthropic, the latest sign that the Asian country’s AI labs are [closing a technology gap with the US](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/china-narrows-ai-gap-us-open-source-shift-could-hit-valuations-george-yeo). Moonshot released the Kimi K3 on Friday (Jul 17), touting benchmarks comparable to some of the US labs’ best offerings. The open-weight model outperforms all rivals except Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 on overall capability, the Chinese startup said. Moonshot’s latest platform underscores how rapidly China’s AI race is evolving beyond a [competition on price](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups-tech/technology/cheaper-ai-better-soaring-bills-are-reshaping-how-businesses-choose-models) alone. Moonshot priced the Kimi K3 at roughly [Anthropic Sonnet](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups-tech/anthropic-releases-most-intelligent-ai-model-rivalry-openai) levels, allowing it to charge a premium over other Chinese models given its capabilities. The startup also claimed it surpasses Z.AI’s most advanced offering on coding tasks. That is stoking concerns that competition in the AI industry is intensifying even as the country’s sector leaders [race onto global markets](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/global/china-flashes-new-high-tech-swagger-world-markets-convulsed-war). Shares of its Chinese rival tumbled 30 per cent in their biggest slide since listing, while MiniMax Group slid 16 per cent. The declines came amid a broader [selloff in Asian technology stocks](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/asian-stocks-slip-after-ai-valuation-fears-spark-wall-street-chip-selloff), with investors concerned about whether a yearslong AI-fuelled stock rally has become overstretched. The K3 model is “brilliant”, said Leonid Mironov, a portfolio manager at Gavekal Capital. “In my use, it’s clearly the best Chinese model ever.” The performance of Kimi K3 came as a surprise to the market and raised concerns over Z.AI’s competitive position. Moonshot said the model has 2.8 trillion parameters and a one million token context window, gauges of its capability. Artificial Analysis ranked Kimi K3 ahead of Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 on some frontier benchmarks, making it the first Chinese open-weight model to achieve that milestone. Whenever there is a new AI model, the existing ones get hit because of concerns about competition, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian. The move also comes as Beijing steps up support for domestic AI development, with President Xi Jinping [hailing China’s advances in low-cost AI](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/international/xi-jinping-vows-make-ai-all-debut-chinas-top-tech-summit) while calling for a more open global technological order. Meanwhile, Z.AI is on track for annual recurring revenue of US$1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. BLOOMBERG Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free. Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services