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As US focuses on perfecting AI models, China wants to become better AI adopters

NPR | By John Ruwitch,

Steve Inskeep

Published February 17, 2026 at 1:40 AM PST

The Chinese AI company DeepSeek shocked markets last year with a high-quality, low-cost model. It's now become clearer that China and the U.S. are running two different AI races.

John Ruwitch

John Ruwitch is a correspondent with NPR's international desk. He covers Chinese affairs.

Steve Inskeep

Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

As US focuses on perfecting AI models, China wants to become better AI adopters

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As US focuses on perfecting AI models, China wants to become better AI adopters

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