Spring Festival nears in China. A wave of AI models has arrived. This follows DeepSeek’s impactful debut last year. Chinese AI firms are releasing new offerings. The competition is intensifying. This is a key news event.
The DeepSeek Legacy
DeepSeek made significant waves a year ago. Its R1 and V3 models gained global attention. This marked a turning point. DeepSeek championed low-cost, open-source AI. The company surprised the industry. It set a new precedent. Many Chinese firms now follow this approach.
The 2026 Spring Festival AI Offensive
Chinese companies are racing to launch new AI models. This surge aims to capture market share. It also showcases rapid advancement.
Zhipu AI Leads with GLM-5
Zhipu AI unveiled its GLM-5 model. This open-source offering boasts enhanced coding abilities. It focuses on “agentic engineering.” Internal tests show strong performance. GLM-5 may surpass Gemini 3 Pro. The model features 744 billion parameters. It trained on 28.5 trillion tokens. GLM-5 uses DeepSeek Sparse Attention. Notably, it was trained on Huawei Ascend chips. This highlights China’s drive for self-reliance. Its MIT license makes it cost-effective and accessible.
ByteDance’s Creative Powerhouse: Doubao 2.0 and Seedance 2.0
ByteDance released its Doubao 2.0 chatbot. This model handles deep thinking. It performs multi-step tasks effectively. ByteDance also launched Seedance 2.0. This video-generation AI model is going viral. It creates cinematic clips quickly. Users share its output widely on social media. Seedance 2.0 is transforming content creation.
MiniMax’s Focus on Productivity and Agents
MiniMax introduced its M2.5 model. This model is built for real-world productivity. It excels in coding and agentic tool use. M2.5 offers significant speed and cost benefits. It can decompose complex tasks optimally. The company also develops popular apps like Hailuo AI and Talkie.
Alibaba’s “Agentic Commerce” Push with Qwen 3.5
Alibaba is preparing to launch Qwen 3.5. The company promoted “agentic commerce.” This involves AI handling online shopping tasks. Alibaba offered a 3 billion yuan coupon giveaway. This drove over 120 million orders. Qwen AI integrates deeply across Alibaba’s ecosystem. It completes tasks like ordering and booking travel.
Tencent’s Edge in Consumer Hardware
Tencent released HY-1.8B-2Bit. This is a compressed AI model. It is designed for consumer hardware. This includes mobile phones. The model is ultra-small. It uses just 600MB of memory. This efficiency is achieved through 2Bit quantization.
Key Trends and Implications
The Rise of Open Source and Cost Efficiency
Many new models are open-source. This follows DeepSeek’s successful strategy. Open-source access lowers costs. It also speeds up development cycles. China’s focus on domestic chip production grows. Huawei Ascend chips are powering new models. This reduces reliance on foreign technology.
Agentic AI Takes Center Stage
The AI landscape shifts to “agentic” systems. These models act autonomously. They move beyond simple conversations. Tasks like ordering food or booking travel are now handled. Companies like Alibaba and ByteDance are leading this trend. Long-running agent tasks are now featured.
Advancements in Specialized AI
Video generation is a trending area. ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 is notable. It creates cinematic videos rapidly. AI models are also specialized for coding and reasoning. Optimized models for consumer hardware are emerging.
Future Outlook and DeepSeek’s Next Move
Anticipation is high for DeepSeek’s V4 model. Its context window is now 1 million tokens. This allows processing book-length text. China’s AI sector shows growing maturity. It is a major competitor globally. This wave of releases confirms its strength.
