Reuters: China Closes in on US AI Lead Despite Sanctions

According to a Reuters analytical report from January 10–11, 2026, the technological gap between China and the US is rapidly closing. Despite strict export restrictions on chips (GPUs), Chinese companies (Huawei, Alibaba, DeepSeek) have adapted by optimizing algorithms and developing a local hardware base.

Researchers note that Chinese open-source models are already competing with top US models in coding and math quality. The country's ecosystem has moved from blind copying to creating unique architectures (e.g., efficient MoE models). This questions the effectiveness of the technological blockade strategy: instead of isolation, the US has created a strong, autonomous competitor.

Source: Reuters / Fortune