China is having another AI moment

A new model has narrowed the gap with America

America’s lead over China in artificial intelligence may be at its smallest in over a year. When China disrupted the ai race in January 2025 with the release of DeepSeek r1, it erased $1trn from America’s capital markets. Nvidia, a chip firm, briefly shed 17% of its value; the Nasdaq sank by 3.1% in a day. American investors were troubled not only because Chinese ai was good, but because it was being given away for free. The uproar soon faded. Since then market valuations around the world have hinged ever more on the promise that ai will be both revolutionary and profitable.

The country’s censors may be making it worse

A medal scheme masks the identity of its toughest labourers

A high-income, low-pressure existence is not all it’s cracked up to be

China wants more healthy, clean and even foreign food

But now Shenzhen says it has too many of them

Demography and AI are set to transform the gaokao