Published on 6/28/2026
A report published by the Wall Street Journal confirms that fears are growing in the United States about a narrowing technical gap with China in the field of artificial intelligence, after the success of Chinese companies in developing models that are now comparable to the latest American models in discovering security vulnerabilities, which may redraw the balance of power in the global technology race.
The newspaper quoted cybersecurity researchers as saying that a new model developed by the Chinese company Zibo Artificial Intelligence, known as Z.AI, has become able to compete with the latest American models in discovering software vulnerabilities, although it is still less efficient in some general tasks compared to the products of Anthropic and OpenAI.
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Experts point out, according to the newspaper, that the gap between America and China has decreased significantly, at a time when companies around the world are turning to using Chinese models due to their low cost.
Increasing importance
The report believes that vulnerability detection models are increasingly important because they help find vulnerabilities in software and fix them before hackers exploit them, but these same capabilities may provide more sophisticated tools for electronic attacks if they fall into the wrong hands.
He stated that the Chinese model is distinguished by being available for downloading, modifying and running on users’ devices without restrictions, which gives it great flexibility, but also raises fears of being exploited for malicious electronic activities.
In another development, the Chinese company 360 Security Technology announced the launch of a new vulnerability detection tool, confirming that it is comparable to the leading American model in this field. Its CEO, Zhou Hongyi, said that the United States’ monopoly on this technology poses a danger to his country, considering that artificial intelligence has become a weapon capable of changing the nature of electronic warfare.
Continued US restrictions, coupled with the falling cost of Chinese models, may push more companies around the world to rely on Chinese technology, which may weaken the US’s ability to maintain its leadership in the race for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Restrictions may backfire
The Wall Street Journal said that this progress coincides with the US administration tightening restrictions on the use of some advanced artificial intelligence models. OpenAI limited access to its latest model in response to security concerns, and Anthropic suspended the availability of one of its models for a period to comply with government directives before allowing a copy of it to be used by trusted parties.
Critics believe that these policies may be counterproductive, because they limit American institutions’ benefit from the latest technologies, while China continues to develop its models at an accelerated pace. They also point out that some Chinese companies have been able to bypass restrictions on exporting electronic chips or have used advanced training methods to benefit from the achievements of American models.
Chinese advantage
On the other hand, the US administration confirms that it is closely following the spread of Chinese models, and seeks to support local companies developing open models, as the Ministry of Defense recently announced agreements with American companies to use these technologies in military applications.
However, experts in the sector warn that the continued American restrictions, coupled with the low cost of Chinese models, may push more companies around the world to rely on Chinese technology, which may weaken the ability of the United States to maintain its leadership in the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity race.
