ChinAI Newsletter

A sobering take from a long-time observer of China’s VC industry.

Featured links

• The 2026 VC sphere is defying common sense

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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Featured links

• Why is it becoming more and more difficult to make money? The most profound analysis I’ve read
• United States has outgrown China over the last five years
• Nvidia Chief Seen as Target of Chinese Spy Plot
• The Beijing Brief
• Benchma(r)king

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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Images from the article:

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Featured links

• American AI is all about scientific research, Chinese AI can only make trash TV
• Banyuetan
• ChinAI #292
• How Chinese companies talk about recursive self-improvement
• Who’s Ahead in the Global AI Talent Race?

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• The Young People Who Reject 6-day Work Week Jobs
• ChinAI #357
• China’s Proposed AI Export Controls and New Temporary Export Registration Requirements: Initial Thoughts
• Assessing Chinese and U.S. Technology Diffusion Capacity
• Good old-fashioned engineering can close the 100,000-year “data gap” in robotics
• Meet Eliza Zhang, Book Scanner and Viral Video Star

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• In the US-China AI race, the deciding factor isn’t compute, it’s another thing
• Newsweek
• Can China close the high-end AI data gap?
• Models for International Private Sector Cooperation on Frontier AI Safety
• There Is No A.I. “Race”
• China races to build data centres in bid for AI supremacy

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Featured links

• ChinAI #365
• My “Tier-5” hometown became a Token Capital
• Using AI for National Day travel: the first wave of users feel let down
• Why do Kimi and DeepSeek appear in the same model configuration?
• BAT giants redo AI pre-training to fix the “Dirty Data” pitfall
• Alibaba DAMO Academy’s Medical AI, piecing together a decades-long picture
• Jev Dethroned: Chinese open-source decision model StartLux takes top spot
• Research Report on Development of the Token Economy (2026)
• In the US-China AI race, the deciding factor isn’t compute, it’s another thing
• What happens when AI employees join the workforce?
• Ban on AI-Human “Romantic Relationships”: New rules on minors’ internet use to tighten controls on virtual companions

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• We Must Pace the Frontier
• Anthropic’s Dogma on US-China AI Competition
• Technology and the Rise of Great Powers
• 600,000 people
• ChinAI #280
• Review of International Political Economy
• EA-entangled
• Sam Bankman-Fried
• This man welcomes sinners and eats with them

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

Source:

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• China’s first AI-generated longform TV series
• The Later Journey to the West
• Huxiu article
• SCMP
• Why We Like Things - what Silicon Valley gets wrong about taste
• Those who Disappeared after the Mudslide at the Gyirong Border Crossing (in Chinese)
• Good thread on Anthropic’s recent threat intelligence report
• A China Hawk’s Case for Studying in China

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

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First published:

Source:

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Plus, Ask the Audience about a tricky research ethics question.

Featured links

• China’s diffusion advantage
• QbitAI article
• SecurityScorecard
• Jeffrey Ding
• China’s AI Implementation Gap
• OpenClaw: It rose to fame, it was loved, and now it’s over

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

Source:

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Featured links

• LatePost
• ChinAI #345
• The Money Game of Embodied AI
• China AI Bulletin 9
• Latitudes: Words or action?
• State of the AI Economy
• How (some) Chinese AI Practitioners View Model Distillation

Thank you for reading and engaging

These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all).

Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jjding99

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

Source:

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.