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Opinion | From AI to EVs, China’s tech genius is in making it cheap and accessible
From artificial intelligence and biotech to autonomous driving, China is disrupting the traditional high-cost model of proprietary innovation
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Technological dominance was once synonymous with proprietary innovations. But recent history suggests differently: true disruption comes from making technology cheap, accessible and inescapable.
China rejects the traditional high-cost, high-margin model of innovation. While foundational artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnological breakthroughs still largely originate in the United States, China excels at rapidly scaling up and optimising the costs of these innovations, turning them into mass-market products at an unmatched pace.
DeepSeek challenges Silicon Valley with its low-cost, open-source AI offerings, Chinese biotech manufacturers are undercutting US drug developers and now BYD is offering autonomous driving to the masses.
This isn’t just about cost-cutting. It’s a strategic imperative forged in one of the world’s most competitive markets and shaped by China’s industrial policy to cultivate global champions. The result is an innovation model where widespread adoption comes first, profits come later and high-margin incumbents scramble to adapt.
Silicon Valley and Bill Gates once dismissed open-source software as a niche movement. Yet Linux revolutionised enterprise computing, Android overtook Apple’s IOS, and open-source AI models from DeepSeek, Meta Platforms and Mistral AI are closing the gap with proprietary models like OpenAI’s GPT-4.
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