Will DeepSeek’s new model spark another global AI shake-up in 2026?

Mistral AI has launched the Mistral 3 family, a suite of 10 open-source models designed for diverse applications, including smartphones, drones, and enterprise systems. This release represents a significant advancement in Mistral's efforts to compete with major tech players like OpenAI and Google, as well as emerging competitors from China.

Dan Wang, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, highlighted the ongoing competition between the U.S. and China in trade and technology, suggesting that the global economy is becoming increasingly protectionist and fragmented. He emphasized that China is intensifying its focus on artificial intelligence and other technologies, posing a significant challenge to the West.

DeepSeek has made headlines again with its recent advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly with the introduction of its new model, DeepSeekMath-V2, which has achieved gold medal status at both the International Mathematical Olympiad 2025 and the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad 2024. This achievement highlights the company's growing influence in the AI sector.

Zhipu, a Chinese AI startup, has achieved a significant revenue milestone and increased its user base for its AI development tools, positioning itself for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in China. This growth reflects the rising demand for AI technologies in the region.

Recent advancements in Diffusion Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) models have highlighted the importance of architectural configurations over routing mechanisms. A systematic study has identified key factors such as expert modules and attention encodings that significantly enhance the performance of these models, suggesting that tuning these configurations can yield better results than routing innovations alone.

China is positioning itself to take a leadership role in global artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, as outlined in a recent article from Nature — Machine Learning. The plan aims to establish a framework that could influence international standards and practices in AI governance.

Yttrium, a rare earth metal essential for various technologies including aircraft engines and semiconductors, is predominantly controlled by China, which raises concerns about supply chain vulnerabilities for the US. This situation is exacerbated by ongoing geopolitical tensions between the two nations.