Chinese technology companies, including DeepSeek and Alibaba Group, have released a wave of free, open-source large language models that are rapidly winning users around the world, according to a Wall Street Journal report on 13 August. The models, distributed under permissive licenses, allow foreign software developers and corporations to customise the code for commercial use without paying licensing fees, lowering barriers to entry for artificial-intelligence applications. The growing traction of these Chinese models has caught the attention of U.S. policymakers and Silicon Valley firms that have traditionally relied on proprietary systems. American officials, the Journal said, view Beijing’s push to make its open models a global standard as an attempt to shape technical norms and exert influence over the worldwide AI ecosystem. Policy specialists writing in Foreign Affairs warned that Washington’s current AI strategy risks leaving open-source development largely to China. If the United States fails to account for the appeal of freely available models, they argue, American companies could surrender technological leadership and strategic leverage in fast-moving markets such as edge computing and enterprise software. The shift toward broadly shared code also raises security questions. Cyber-security researchers speaking at the Black Hat conference noted that large language models are highly vulnerable to prompt-injection attacks and other manipulations, underscoring the need for stronger safeguards as open models proliferate. Analysts say the United States will have to balance the advantages of openness with measures to protect critical infrastructure and intellectual property.