Cade Metz, Karen Weise and Meaghan TobinJul 2, 2026 – 5.00amIn mid-June, artificial intelligence company Anthropic shut down its two most powerful AI systems after an unexpected demand from the US government to cut access to them.Days later, a Chinese start-up, Z.ai, released an AI model that is nearly as powerful as Anthropic’s models, Fable and Mythos. But Z.ai’s new technology costs much less to use, and no one in the United States was putting restrictions on it.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
How Chinese AI models are closing the gap on Anthropic and OpenAI
The temporary sidelining of Anthropic may be over, but a Beijing-based alternative made hay while the sun shone.
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