Chinese models now lead on two developer platforms
Chinese models took 57 to 67% of tokens on OpenRouter, up from 6 to 13% in February. On Vercel their share rose to 55%.
The numbers
Data from two large developer platforms, where companies reach models from many providers, show Chinese models spreading fast in 2026. On OpenRouter, Chinese models accounted for 57 to 67% of tokens used in the week of September 14, up from 6 to 13% in February. On Vercel their share rose from 11% in January to 55% in August.
Why
Open-weight Chinese models are offered far more cheaply than US rivals for similar work. Because developers can switch models behind the same interface, the price gap shows up in usage quickly. Families such as Xiaomi MiMo and DeepSeek are this year's leading examples.
Washington is worried
The figures have raised concern in the US, where the question of who leads the AI race is now measured by the most used model as well as the best one. Token share is not revenue share: cheap models burn many tokens, so their usage share can look large.