DeepSeek exploded The large language model appeared on the world stage in 2025. It was only one model among many thousands. generative AI tools that have been released in China since 2023—and there’s a public archive of every single one of them.
Cyberspace Administration of China is the top regulator of China’s internet. Any company that launches an AI tool must comply with their requirements. “public opinion properties or social mobilization capabilities” First, you must register it with the public algorithm registry. The developers are required to submit a document that explains how their product avoids 31 risk categories, from discrimination based on gender or age to harm psychologically. “violating core socialist values.”
Applicant submits application to local CAC, (such as the Shanghai CAC when a firm registered in Shanghai is submitting their request to that CAC), and the central CAC approves it. A tool is only listed publicly in the registry after it has received approval from its local CAC. Matt Sheehan is a researcher at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and he notes that while the European Union has a comprehensive AI Act in place, China regulates more on ad-hoc basis, by focusing only on specific algorithms, then building iterative standards. The US does not have a similar registration system, or central regulatory agency.
The CAC, inadvertently, has created one of the most comprehensive maps in the world on the AI ecosystems in each nation.
*Data current as of April 2025, includes both “generative AI” The following are some examples of how to get started: “deep synthesis” The following algorithms are available:
The CAC’s August 2024 update lists DeepSeek at entry 152. This is a single line in an organized table. You’ll see an AI which manages homestays, and another AI who is responsible for a boarding house. drafts patents. Another helps to manage the state’s power grids. Kendra Schaefer Trivium China in Beijing, and its colleagues, have been compiling CAC updates to create a database that is enriched by their research.
An Overview of the Boom
Nearly 80 percent of China’s generative AI registrations are clustered in and around its top tech hubs—Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. Each city has strengths. Beijing’s Shanghai is close to major multinationals and excels in commercialization. Hangzhou, located in Zhejiang, is powered by Alibaba’s online empire.
The innovation does not stop at the coasts. Chongqing, which is located in Anhui Province has been able to become well-known for its AI manufacturing node. “China’s speech valley” iFlyTek is one of the many speech-recognition companies in China. Some filings originate from regions that are less well-known, like Guizhou. “Big Data Valley,” Inner Mongolia is a place where AI technology has been integrated into agriculture and mining by state-owned enterprises.
*Data current as of April 2025
In the Trivium dataset, state-linked listings—from state-owned enterprises to government-backed research institutes—make up 22 percent of filings. PetroChina and other state-owned firms have partnered with Big Tech companies to create their own AI. teamed up State Grid to develop oil and gas apps with Huawei, iFlyTek used DeepSeek Build a model for optimizing the power grids.
Only 0.5 per cent of all filings are by foreign companies. Ikea for example has an algorithm to generate product recommendations. Yum China is the parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken China. It has a model which generates promotional materials and menus.
Focus on the competition
*Data current as of April 2025
The registry contains more than half the entries for cross-sector technology, as Schaefer describes it. They range from basic models to “general purpose” text generators to a wide array of multimedia tools—voice swappers, 3D renderers, image makers. “Nobody wants to be caught in a situation where they depend on a competitor’s technology,” Schaefer says. China has a more diverse, and competitive, AI market than the US. In the US, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind have dominated the AI market. The cost of building these models makes them unaffordable, while the market has begun to consolidate. China’s six”AI tigers“—Moonshot, Minimax, Zhipu, Baichuan, 0.1AI, and Stepfun—are all backed by Alibaba or Tencent. ByteDance’s Doubao overtook DeepSeek in China as the most popular chatbot. However, its position at number one isn’t guaranteed.
Niche Natives
As the chatbot battle between giants rages on, startups in almost every industry are busy at work.
Squirrel AI 松鼠
The founder Derek Li claims that his 12-year old company has leapfrogged the competition in ed tech. The company is a leader in ed-tech. “put wheels on a horse,” In his view, AI is simply a bolt-on to their existing software. Squirrel promises to detect knowledge gaps, monitor progress, and modify lessons in real-time.
It was a shock to the system when China prohibited for-profit tuition in 2021. The company’s revenues dropped overnight when China banned for-profit tutoring in 2021. pivoted Squirrel’s network includes more than 2,000 franchisees. Squirrel is a franchise network that includes over 3,000 centers The company has served 1.2 millions students in China. Now the company wants to expand into the US.
Li is who withdrew his sons Squirrel is a platform that allows students to be educated at home using Squirrel. “in the future, teachers won’t teach knowledge.” “Instead, he said, “they’ll become data analysts, understanding learning reports and students’ ability, and psychologists, understanding emotions and shaping their personalities.”
AI Kanshe 看舌
AI Kanshe, also translated as “AI Sees Tongue”The startup () analyzes the health of a person by using images taken from their face, lips, or tongue. Li Wenhua founded the company, who was a former Yaoshi Bang employee, which is one of China’s first online pharmaceutical platforms. Li, a long-time practitioner of Chinese tongue and hand diagnostics, wanted to integrate the traditional methods with machine vision. It offers tools that support diagnostics and decisions to both health professionals and consumers in clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. More than 100,000 annotations of images such as hands, tongues and faces are used to train the model.
Zhongtan Puhui Cloud Technology 中碳普惠云科技
Zhongtan Puhui Cloud Technology was founded by Wu Song in 2024. He is a Wall Street quant trading expert. The company develops AI driven tools for carbon accountancy. Wu says the transition to green still relies heavily on human labor, which can be automated.
Zhongtan Puhui develops AI agents for carbon accounting, such as auditing emissions and carbon footprinting. Clients range from China Minmetals Group, DHL and small- and medium-sized companies in the Yangtze River Delta.
