Business & TrendsSeptember 18, 2026
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China's AI Models: 10% Revenue, 100% Hype
A report shows that China's leading AI models generate only about one tenth of the revenue of OpenAI and Anthropic.
#China AI#OpenAI#Anthropic#Revenue#Rhodium Group

š„ What happened
Seven major Chinese AI developers ā including DeepSeek, Alibaba and ByteDance ā pulled in just US$10.7 billion in ARR from March to August combined. OpenAI and Anthropic reported over US$100 billion in the same window.
š” Why it matters
ByteDance leads the pack at US$4 billion, Alibaba trails at US$2.4 billion. That's a 10x gap ā yet these companies are valued as if they're neck-and-neck with their US rivals. Rhodium Group's numbers expose a massive valuation disconnect.
ā” Our take
Chinese AI is cheap, fast and impressive ā but nobody's paying for it. Anyone buying into these valuations right now is buying hope, not revenue.
The title, summary and analysis of this item were produced automatically by an AI system and have not been editorially reviewed. They may contain errors, bias or omissions ā when in doubt, read the linked original source.
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