Chinese developers—including research group DeepSeek and Alibaba with its Qwen large language model—are releasing powerful open-source artificial-intelligence systems that are being freely downloaded and adapted around the world. The rapid spread of these models is giving Beijing an opportunity to shape de facto technical standards for generative AI without the licensing restrictions common in the West. The Wall Street Journal reports that the surge in overseas adoption has caught both Washington and Silicon Valley off guard. U.S. officials are studying whether existing chip-export curbs are sufficient to safeguard national security, while American technology firms are debating whether to loosen their own licensing terms or push for new regulatory guardrails on foreign code. Industry leaders are divided on how the race will unfold. Elon Musk said Google currently has the "highest probability" of leading AI thanks to its compute and data advantage, yet a Google Asia-Pacific executive acknowledged that Chinese startups are "innovating in ways unmatched by other countries." The contrasting assessments underscore how China’s open-source push is reshaping perceptions of global AI leadership.