Microsoft warns: Chinese AI is outperforming emerging markets and threatening Western dominance

Microsoft warns: Chinese AI is outperforming emerging markets and threatening Western dominance

Microsoft President Brad Smith issued a stark warning about China's dominance in artificial intelligence (AI) outside the West, noting that Chinese models like DeepSeek are gaining increasing popularity in developing markets, particularly in Africa, thanks to their low cost and accessibility. This warning came in an interview published by the Financial Times, coinciding with an internal company report showing a significant acceleration in the adoption of open-source Chinese technologies in the Global South. Why is Chinese AI so dominant in developing countries? Smith explained that the main reason lies in three interconnected factors: Consistent government support for Chinese companies, enabling them to offer robust models at very competitive prices, or even for free in some cases. A focus on open-source models, a sector largely neglected by American companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, giving China a competitive edge in markets seeking inexpensive and customizable solutions. Limited …