American CEOs are 'stressing' over China’s open-source AI capabilities: head of top EU tech firm

💬 “China is not behind the West” on AI and to suggest otherwise is “a fairy tale,” Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch says.

💬 “In AI they are very much at parity and the year ahead is going to be extremely interesting in that respect,” Mensch told Bloomberg on WEF’s sidelines.

Praising China for doing “very well” without the US’s advanced Nvidia chips, Mensch said the world has “seen China’s rise on the open-source front,” a business model Mistral is trying to emulate.

💬 “Our competitor[s]…are Chinese companies. And what we see, and that’s probably stressing a little bit some of the CEOs in the US, is that the open-source technology is actually getting to the point where it’s as good or even stronger than the closed source technology, except it also comes with much more control, much more customization, and independence from single providers,” Mensch noted.

The kicker? 🧐

China is maintaining this “parity” with the West on AI even while spending up to SEVEN TIMES less on the tech than US companies, preferring to spread out its technology investments instead of putting all its eggs in one basket.

More new info on China:

China signs new deals worth $213 billion under the Belt and Road Initiative in 2025

China's Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) just shattered records, signing $213.5 billion in new deals for 2025, a stunning 75% surge. The total now exceeds $1.4 trillion across 150 nations. But the real story is the strategic pivot.

The focus has sharply turned to Africa and Central Asia, with a dual energy strategy creating a stark paradox. 2025 was simultaneously the initiative's "greenest and dirtiest" year. While clean energy investments hit new peaks, fossil fuel deals tripled to $71.5 billion, representing over 74% of all energy engagement, the highest reliance since 2014.

Concurrently, China executed a massive minerals grab. Metals and mining investments reached a record $32.6 billion, with roughly 60% concentrated in Kazakhstan alone, a nation sitting on reserves of 15 critical rare earth elements.