DeepSeek’s AI dominance in China challenged by Alibaba’s Qwen and rising rivals

DeepSeek has seen use of its models drop to 80 per cent from 99 per cent on Chinese cloud computing platform PPIO

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DeepSeek remains the most popular AI model on cloud computing platform PPIO. Photo: dpa

Published: 5:00pm, 28 Jul 2025

DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence models are the most commonly used products of its kind in China, but the company is quickly losing market share to rivals in the highly competitive AI market, according to a cloud computing service provider.

DeepSeek, which commanded over 99 per cent of open-source AI model usage on Chinese cloud computing platform PPIO in the first quarter, saw its share decline to about 80 per cent in June, according to data released by the service provider late last week.

Meanwhile, the Qwen models from Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the Post, had gained significant traction, PPIO said. At its peak in late May, use of Qwen models on the platform surpassed that of DeepSeek products, reaching 56 per cent.

In January, PPIO became one of the first cloud computing platforms to offer DeepSeek’s V3 and R1 models to third-party clients, driving a surge in AI adoption in China. On July 12, PPIO added Kimi-K2-Instruct, an open-source model developed by Alibaba-backed start-up MoonShot AI, which is drawing rapid uptake worldwide.

China’s AI competition remains intense: the country now boasts over 1,500 AI models, with many start-ups striving to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of their open-source offerings. In contrast, DeepSeek has remained silent about its highly anticipated next-generation models.

“Since May, DeepSeek’s share [on our platform] has decreased because of the influx of excellent models that has provided users with more choices,” PPIO said.

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