China wants to win the career of AI giving the services that others charge

Alibaba has just launched Qwen 3his family of AI models with “hybrid” reasoning capabilities, just three months after Deepseek shook the industry with R1. It is not a coincidences: both Chinese companies have adopted a diametrically opposite strategy to that of the United States.

While Openai reserves the best functions and expands limits to those who pay at least $ 20 per month (with more permissiveness if they are 200), and Google reserves their advanced functions to subscribers, Chinese giant publish open source models with almost restrictions, free for personal or commercial use. It is not altruism, but A direct attack on the western business model, based on the fact that the mere access to a great model justifies the payment.

Qwen 3 arrives in eight variants: from light versions of 600 m parameters that fit on a mobile to a 235 b titan that rivals O3 and Gemini 2.5 Pro. They all allow alternate between fast answers and step -by reasoning —The trait that opens Sell ​​as differential-, but without tolls.

We are facing the “Linux” of AI. China does not want to lift fenced gardens, but to dynamite the commercial logic that supports great American technology.

Each open launch that touches the level of owner systems erodes its perceived value. Why pay $ 20 per month for chatgpt if you can mount FREE QWEN 3 with a similar yield? The pressure on OpenAI, Google or Anthropic grows with each Asian iteration.

Marc Benioff He summarized it after The Deepseek earthquake: “The models and interface are already commodities; the value is in the data.” China has internalized it before Silicon Valley.

The play involves clear advantages:

1. It partially raffers chips restrictions by squeezing efficiency.
2. Mobilizes a global community that improves and displays its technology.
3. Set standards de facto That, over time, they will channel the entire ecosystem.

The thesis is clear: Basic models will be one more utility. The business will be in the applications and in the data that nourish them. It is no accident that Alibaba Alardee that Qwen already accumulates more than 100,000 derivatives, above those based on flame.

Silicon Valley faces a dilemma: persist and risk irrelevance or open and sacrifice short -term income. The paradox is also clear: the free western market is being challenged by Chinese firms under the flag of the Open Source.

While Musk accelerates with Grok 3.5 and OpenAi continues to show the way to pass through month to month, China advances without brake: more power for less cost until paying for the is as absurd as paying for an operating system.

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Outstanding image | Alibaba, Xataka