Every month, hundreds of millions of people visit Pinterest to search for new styles and ideas. One popular page called “the most ridiculous things” delivers strange inspiration. It shows Crocs reused as flower pots. It features cheeseburger-shaped eyeshadow. It even includes a gingerbread house built from vegetables.
Most users do not realise the technology behind these suggestions is not always American. Pinterest now tests Chinese artificial intelligence models to improve its recommendation engine. The platform increasingly depends on this technology to guide shopping and discovery.
Pinterest chief executive Bill Ready said the company has transformed the platform into an AI-powered shopping assistant. The San Francisco-based firm could rely on many American AI labs. Instead, it increasingly integrates Chinese-developed models behind the scenes.
The DeepSeek turning point
China’s influence inside Pinterest expanded after the release of DeepSeek R-1 in January 2025. Ready described this moment as a breakthrough for the industry. He said the developers released the model as open source. That decision sparked a surge of open-source innovation.
The release encouraged companies to experiment quickly. Other Chinese firms soon followed the same strategy. Alibaba launched its Qwen models. Moonshot released its Kimi system. ByteDance also develops similar large language technology.
These models now compete directly with established American systems. They increasingly power products used by millions of people worldwide.
Why companies are switching
Pinterest Chief Technology Officer Matt Madrigal said open-source access makes these models attractive. Companies can download them and customise them internally. Most American rivals limit access to their most advanced systems.
Madrigal said Pinterest trains its own models using open-source techniques. He said these systems outperform many off-the-shelf alternatives. According to him, accuracy improves by about 30 percent.
Costs also fall sharply. Madrigal said expenses sometimes drop by as much as ninety percent. Proprietary models from US developers often cost far more.
Fast, cheap, and spreading
Pinterest is not alone in adopting Chinese AI. Many major American companies now rely on these models. Their use continues to spread across corporate America.
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said his company relies heavily on Alibaba’s Qwen. The model powers Airbnb’s AI customer service agent. Chesky gave three reasons for the decision. He said it is very good. He said it is fast. He said it is cheap.
More evidence appears on Hugging Face, a major platform for downloading AI models. Developers there access systems from companies like Meta and Alibaba. The platform tracks which models gain the most attention.
Jeff Boudier, who builds products at the platform, said cost drives many choices. Young start-ups often prefer Chinese models over American ones. Download data shows a clear shift.
Chinese models rise to the top
Boudier said Chinese models frequently dominate popularity rankings. In some weeks, four of the five leading training models come from Chinese labs. That trend repeats itself regularly.
In September, Alibaba’s Qwen overtook Meta’s Llama. It became the most downloaded family of large language models on the platform. Developers responded quickly to the change.
Meta released its open-source Llama models in 2023. Developers long viewed them as the default option for custom applications. That position weakened after DeepSeek and Alibaba entered the market.
Disappointment inside Silicon Valley
Meta released Llama 4 last year. Many developers described the update as disappointing. Reports suggest Meta now uses open-source models from Alibaba, Google, and OpenAI to train a new system. The company plans to release it this spring.
Airbnb uses several AI models at the same time. That includes systems developed in the United States. The company hosts all models within its own infrastructure. It says it never shares user data with model developers.
A shifting balance of power
At the start of 2025, many analysts believed Chinese firms were close to pulling ahead. Massive American investment no longer guaranteed leadership. The conversation has since changed.
Boudier said the strongest models now come from open-source communities. A recent Stanford University report supports that view. Researchers found Chinese models have matched or surpassed global competitors.
The study measured technical performance and user adoption. It suggested Chinese developers have closed the gap. In some areas, they have moved ahead.
Strategic focus versus ambition
In a recent interview with a British broadcaster, former UK deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg criticised American priorities. He said US firms focus too heavily on building AI that surpasses human intelligence.
Clegg previously led global affairs at Meta. Mark Zuckerberg has committed billions to achieving what he calls superintelligence. Some experts now describe those ambitions as vague.
Clegg said this lack of focus gives China an opening. He argued China now does more to democratise the technology it competes over.
Pressure on American developers
The Stanford report also pointed to strong government backing inside China. That support may explain part of its success in open-source development.
Meanwhile, American AI companies face intense pressure to generate revenue. Firms like OpenAI must balance research with profitability. Some now turn to advertising to support growth.
OpenAI released two open-source models last summer. It marked the company’s first such release in years. Most resources still flow into proprietary systems designed to make money.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said the company invests aggressively in computing power. He said revenue will grow quickly. He also said spending on future models will remain heavy.
