"China's open-source AI models challenge US dominance in global technology race"
Open-weight model
AI model whose trained parameters (weights) are publicly released, allowing local deployment without developer dependence
Inference
the process of running a trained AI model to generate outputs from new inputs, distinct from the training phase
The global race for artificial intelligence supremacy is increasingly understood not merely as a commercial competition but as a strategic contest between nation-states with profound implications for economic productivity, military capability, and geopolitical influence. The United States established an early lead through its frontier laboratories — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind — which developed large language models of unprecedented capability. In response, the Bletchley Declaration (2023), the Seoul AI Safety Summit (2024), and the AI Action Summit (Paris, 2025) attempted to build multilateral frameworks around responsible AI development, with the implicit assumption that frontier capability would remain concentrated in Western hands.
China's AI ambitions, however, are rooted in long-term state planning. The New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan set out a roadmap for China to become the world's primary AI innovation centre by 2030. State support has flowed to both established technology conglomerates and newer research-focused startups, creating a layered ecosystem of AI development. Crucially, the imposition of US export controls on advanced semiconductors — particularly high-end GPUs manufactured by firms like Nvidia — was intended to constrain China's ability to train frontier models. The actual outcome has been more complicated.
India's own positioning in this landscape is shaped by the IndiaAI Mission and the AI Impact Summit hosted in early 2026, which articulated a vision of democratised, inclusive AI. Yet India faces a resource gap relative to both the US and China, making its choices about which AI ecosystems to engage with — and which to avoid on trust grounds — consequential for its digital sovereignty.
The central distinction animating the current AI competition is between open-weight/open-source models and proprietary (captive) models. In a proprietary model, the weights — the billions of numerical parameters that encode the model's learned knowledge — are kept secret, and users access the model only through an API controlled by the developer. In an open-weight model, the weights are publicly released, allowing any sufficiently resourced actor to download, run, fine-tune, or study the model on their own hardware without ongoing dependence on the original developer.
Chinese firms have strategically embraced the open-weight approach. DeepSeek, a startup that attracted global attention, released models that matched or exceeded Western counterparts on several benchmarks while being freely downloadable. Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, a 2.8 trillion parameter model, demonstrated competitive performance against leading proprietary models. Alibaba has released lightweight models optimised for local inference — running on a user's own hardware rather than a remote server — appealing to developers who prioritise cost control and data privacy. …
Consider the following statements with respect to the AI Impact Summit, 2026 held in New Delhi:
1.The Summit's intellectual framework was based on three foundational Sutras: People, Planning, and Progress.
2.The Preamble of the Summit stresses Democratising AI Resources, which acknowledges the Charter for Democratic Diffusion of AI as a binding framework to support locally relevant innovation and strengthen resilient AI ecosystems while respecting national laws.
3.The New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact was structured around seven Chakras (Pillars), which included Access for Social Empowerment, AI for Science, and Secure and Trusted AI.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the AI Action Summit held in Grand Palais, Paris in February 2025:
I.Co-chaired with India, the event builds on the advances made at the Bletchley Park Summit held in 2023 and the Seoul Summit held in 2024.
II.Along with other countries, US and UK also signed the declaration on inclusive and sustainable AI.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding China's AI development strategy:
1.Chinese AI firms have been able to partially offset US GPU export controls by aggregating larger quantities of less advanced chips combined with abundant electricity access.
2.Open-weight AI models allow users to run inference locally without ongoing dependence on the original developer's servers.
3.DeepSeek is a Chinese government-owned AI laboratory whose models are exclusively available through a proprietary API.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the global AI governance architecture, consider the following sequence of multilateral summits:
1.Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit
2.Seoul AI Safety Summit
3.AI Action Summit, Paris
Which of the following correctly represents the chronological order of these summits?
Assertion (A): India has adopted a contradictory posture toward Chinese open-source AI models — permitting their use by domestic firms and government bodies while simultaneously avoiding Chinese AI diplomacy forums.
Reason (R): Open-weight AI models, when run locally, do not transmit user data to the model developer's servers, substantially reducing the data sovereignty risk that would otherwise apply to Chinese proprietary AI services.
Which of the following is correct?
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