# Chinese labs have been giving the technology away for free.

*genai · news · 2026-04-18 · CNA*

## Key points

- Alibaba has shifted from open-source AI models, releasing its third proprietary model and breaking with prior strategy.
- Qwen, Alibaba's open AI model family, accounts for over half of global open-source model downloads.
- About 80% of companies pitching Andreessen Horowitz with open-source AI use Chinese models.
- China's government now officially supports open source, making it central to national AI ambitions.
- Chinese labs may adopt hybrid open-proprietary models, but a full exit from open source is unlikely.

**Companies:** Alibaba, DeepSeek, Cursor, Moonshot, Zhipu, MiniMax
**Countries:** China, United States, Singapore

[Read the full story on CNA](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/china-ai-open-source-alibaba-qwen-deepseek-agentic-6063396)

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