Every month, hundreds of millions of users head to Pinterest to discover new styles and visual trends. One popular page called “the most ridiculous things” offers unusual inspiration. It shows Crocs transformed into flower pots. It features cheeseburger-shaped eyeshadow. It even includes a gingerbread house built from vegetables.
Many users do not realise the technology behind these recommendations is not always American. Pinterest now experiments with Chinese artificial intelligence models to refine its recommendation engine. The platform increasingly depends on this technology to guide shopping and discovery.
Pinterest chief executive Bill Ready said the company has effectively turned the platform into an AI-powered shopping assistant. The San Francisco-based firm could partner with many American AI labs. Instead, it increasingly integrates Chinese-developed models behind the scenes.
DeepSeek shifts the landscape
China’s role inside Pinterest expanded after the launch of DeepSeek R-1 in January 2025. Ready described the release as a breakthrough moment. He said the developers chose to release the model as open source. That decision triggered a rapid wave of innovation.
The move encouraged fast experimentation across the industry. Other Chinese companies soon followed the same strategy. Alibaba developed its Qwen models. Moonshot released its Kimi system. ByteDance also works on similar large language technology.
These models now compete directly with established American systems. They increasingly power products used daily by millions of people worldwide.
Open source attracts businesses
Pinterest Chief Technology Officer Matt Madrigal said open-source access makes these models especially appealing. Companies can download and customise them freely. Many American rivals restrict access to their most advanced systems.
Madrigal said Pinterest trains its own models using open-source techniques. He said these internal systems outperform many off-the-shelf alternatives. According to him, accuracy improves by about 30 percent.
Costs also drop sharply. Madrigal said expenses sometimes fall by as much as ninety percent. Proprietary models from US developers often require far higher spending.
Fast, affordable, and spreading
Pinterest is not the only company adopting Chinese AI technology. Many major American firms now rely on these models. Their use continues to expand across corporate America.
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said his company depends heavily on Alibaba’s Qwen. The model powers Airbnb’s AI customer service agent. Chesky explained the choice in simple terms. He said it works very well. 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 popularity and usage patterns.
Jeff Boudier, who builds products at the platform, said cost drives many decisions. Young start-ups often choose Chinese models over American ones. Download data reflects that shift.
Chinese models dominate attention
Boudier said Chinese models frequently top popularity rankings. In some weeks, four of the five leading training models come from Chinese labs. That trend appears repeatedly.
In September, Alibaba’s Qwen overtook Meta’s Llama. It became the most downloaded family of large language models on the platform. Developers quickly adjusted their preferences.
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.
Silicon Valley recalculates
Meta released Llama 4 last year. Many developers described the update as underwhelming. 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 simultaneously. 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 global balance
At the start of 2025, many analysts believed Chinese firms were close to pulling ahead. Massive American investment no longer guaranteed leadership. The discussion has since evolved.
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 both technical performance and user adoption. It suggested Chinese developers have closed the gap. In some areas, they have already moved ahead.
Competing visions for AI
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 clarity gives China an opening. He argued China now does more to democratise the technology it competes over.
Pressure builds on US developers
The Stanford report also highlighted strong government backing inside China. That support may explain part of its success in open-source development.
Meanwhile, American AI companies face growing 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.
