Chinese AI firms are readying a wave of new models one year after DeepSeek shook the global tech industry.

TechCentral

Chinese AI companies are preparing to release new models around Spring Festival 2026, one year after DeepSeek disrupted the industry with its low-cost approach. Zhipu AI released an enhanced model, ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0 for video generation, and upgrades are expected from DeepSeek (V4), Alibaba (Qwen 3.5), and ByteDance's Doubao chatbot. DeepSeek's original release demonstrated that competitive AI models could be built at a fraction of typical costs—Chinese models now operate at roughly one-sixth to one-fourth the cost of comparable US systems. The industry has shifted toward open-source approaches and lower deployment costs, with competitors also focusing on consumer integration while DeepSeek maintains its research-first approach backed by its hedge fund parent company.

Here comes the next wave of Chinese AI models