“China and the US Are Running Different AI Races” by Poe Zhao

Last month, as three Chinese AI startups went public within days of each other, Hong Kong briefly became a scoreboard for emerging companies in the industry. On January 2, AI chip designer Shanghai Biren Technology listed in Hong Kong and raised $5.58 billion Hong Kong dollars ($717 million). About a week later, model developers Zhipu AI and MiniMax followed, raising HK$4.35 billion ($558 million) and HK$4.8 billion ($619 million), respectively. Those listings matter less as a market spectacle than as a strategy signal, and the strategy differs noticeably from that of companies across the Pacific. US startups build around abundance: raise huge capital, buy time, push the frontier. OpenAI's Stargate plan, for example, aims to invest $500 billion over four years in AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Chinese startups adapt to different constraints: frontier training infrastructure is scarcer, so momentum comes from efficiency, targeted deployment, and market selection. As AI moves from demos to production, the binding question shifts: what does it cost to deliver useful work reliably, and who will pay? Under different economic pressures, Chinese and US companies are opting for different go-to-market strategies. The Capital Gap US AI startups attract more private investment than those in China. The [...] ---Outline:(01:37) The Capital Gap(04:04) Who Pays, and What Are They Buying?(06:39) Constraints Determine Chinas Choices(09:50) What to Watch(11:37) Discussion about this post(11:40) Ready for more? --- First published: February 12th, 2026 Source: https://aifrontiersmedia.substack.com/p/china-and-the-us-are-running-different --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.