📈 Chinese AI labs have moved fast and they’re taking real share.
In just a year, nearly half of developer traffic that once went to ChatGPT and Claude is now flowing to Chinese players. Analysts estimate that around 45% of requests are heading toward companies like MiniMax, Zhipu, and Moonshot.
The driver isn’t mystery, it’s economics.
Chinese models are reportedly 10–20x cheaper than many Western alternatives. And for a large portion of use cases, developers say the performance gap is small enough to justify the switch.
It’s a familiar playbook: enter an established category, aggressively
In just a year, nearly half of developer traffic that once went to ChatGPT and Claude is now flowing to Chinese players. Analysts estimate that around 45% of requests are heading toward companies like MiniMax, Zhipu, and Moonshot.
The driver isn’t mystery, it’s economics.
Chinese models are reportedly 10–20x cheaper than many Western alternatives. And for a large portion of use cases, developers say the performance gap is small enough to justify the switch.
It’s a familiar playbook: enter an established category, aggressively
