Why do Chinese AI labs keep up at a fraction of the cost? Reddit debates the efficiency gap

budfischer · reddit · 2026-09-30

A Reddit thread asks why Chinese AI labs keep improving while spending only a fraction of what US labs do, floating explanations like better training efficiency, stronger post-training, better use of open research, and superior data strategy.

The poster highlights a recent trend: Chinese labs buying large amounts of handcrafted expert data from US firms such as SurgeAI and Mercor, and argues such data exports should be restricted like GPUs if the US wants to keep its lead.

Original post →

More from Companies & People

Companies & People channel →