Artificial intelligence will be a focal point of the scientific agenda at Beijing’s annual legislative meeting and coming five-year plan, as China and the US pursue divergent AI paths putting their tech ecosystems at odds.

Just over a year ago, Chinese start-up DeepSeek released an open-source AI model that changed how the world viewed the country’s AI capabilities and ambitions.

Chinese companies have embraced an open-source approach to AI development, which has rapidly scaled usage of their models worldwide and sped up AI adoption across domestic industries, including healthcare, energy and transport.

Meanwhile, US-based companies have largely followed a closed-off, paid approach that may limit how these models become integrated into daily life and slow the adoption of advanced AI-reliant technologies.