On June 16, 2026, the Chinese language website of French international broadcaster RFI (Radio France Internationale) reported that the U.S. Trump administration's export ban on artificial intelligence (AI) models by U.S. company Anthropic could stimulate demand from Chinese companies.

The article stated that the Trump administration banned the use of Anthropic's cutting-edge AI models "Fable 5" and "Mythos 5" outside the United States, leading to cries of protest and backlash among developers worldwide.

It then pointed out that unlike previous hardware blockades, including chips, this software restriction targets all regions outside the U.S., effectively creating a technological vacuum even in allied countries and Southeast Asia. This decision, it stated, could provide an opportunity for Chinese AI giants like Alibaba and DeepSeek to establish a foothold.

The article introduced that China's AI industry is developing at an astonishing speed, and according to a report by the French economic daily "Les Echos", the software architecture adopted by DeepSeek is more than 10 times cheaper than that of U.S. companies, and, including Alibaba's "Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen)" ecosystem, possesses a strong price advantage.

It also reported that as Alibaba and DeepSeek approach U.S.-made models in terms of development capability, regarding concerns about information espionage by Chinese-made AI, they are offering mechanisms that allow customers to download and run models within their own secure servers.

The article assessed that the export restrictions by the U.S. send a signal worldwide that access to U.S. AI can be revoked at any time for political reasons, thereby relatively lowering the perceived political risk of Chinese-made AI, and could trigger companies worldwide to choose Chinese-made AI as a reliably usable option. (Edited and translated by Kawajiri)