The AI race: US leads at the frontier, but China is gaining ground in adoption | Merics

MERICS has published a commentary under the title 'The AI race: US leads at the frontier, but China is gaining ground in adoption.' The piece splits the AI race into two measures rather than one. On adoption — the take-up and use of AI — it describes China as closing the distance.

The commentary identifies Chinese open-weight models as part of the adoption picture, describing them as offering ready access without relying on a U.S. provider.

Set against that, the commentary notes the approval requirement that applies to Chinese AI services. The two points appear in the same account of the Chinese market: models available in open-weight form, and a regulatory clearance step covering all Chinese AI services. The commentary does not attach figures to the frontier lead or to the adoption gap.