Moonshot’s newest release narrows US-China AI model development gap: analysts

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 2 min read 100% complete by Vincent ChowJanuary 28, 2026 at 02:00 PM

AI Summary

short article 2 min

Moonshot AI, a Beijing-based startup, released its Kimi K2.5 model, which third-party evaluations indicate has significantly narrowed the gap between US and Chinese AI development. The release raises questions about the effectiveness of US export controls on advanced semiconductors in limiting China's AI progress. Moonshot, valued at $4.3 billion after a recent funding round, made the model's weights publicly available, allowing global developers to freely download and customize it. Kimi K2.5 scored close to leading US models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind in performance evaluations. This open-source approach contrasts with the closed-source strategy of many American AI companies.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Beijing 40% Brookings Institution 60% Moonshot AI ×370% Kyle Chan 80% US-China AI model development gap ×290%

Keywords

artificial intelligence 100% ai model development 90% us-china gap 80% moonshot ai 80% kimi k2.5 70% open-source model 60% export controls 60% ai companies 50% funding round 40% performance evaluations 40%