News
- Some Chinese models are said to be 90% cheaper than their US counterparts
- Open-weight models are also better suited to local deployment
- Price- and quality-driven markets exist within the AI sector
A new report from Juniper Research has revealed how rapid improvements and dramatically lower operating costs for Chinese AI models could be impacting the uptake of counterpart US models.
The paper details how Chinese AI models can now cost as much as 90% less to run than leading US alternatives, which is already affecting where developers choose to run their AI workloads.
Looking ahead, the battle is becoming less about who can build the highest-performance, lowest-cost models and more about who can make inference cheaper.
Chinese AI models are seriously undercutting US modelsJuniper's research focuses on API platform and marketplace OpenRouter, which last year saw around 70% of work being conducted with US AI models from the likes of OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Their combined share has since fallen drastically to around 30%, the paper notes, noting the clear willingness to move workloads away from US firms to cheaper alternatives.
More broadly, Juniper says two distinct markets have started to emerge within AI spend – a price-driven one where customers prioritize cheaper inference and a quality-driven one where customers are willing to pay more for higher accuracy and reasoning.
While US companies still appear to dominate the quality-driven market, emerging Chinese models deliver better on the price-driven front.
Juniper also noted that open-weight models are challenging the idea that inference needs to be sent a cloud provider. Now that many small models can be deployed locally, cloud providers could also be set to lose out on the major revenue they've been experiencing in recent years.
While what comes next is unclear, it's likely that a growing market could lead to a space where cheaper Chinese models and higher-performance US models could coexist, but one thing's for certain. US dominance is certainly being challenged.
- CD Projekt Red's joint CEO Michal Nowakowski has confidence in game consoles coping with the RAM crisis
- Nowakowski is convinced consoles will 'weather the storm', as analysts expect shortages to continue through 2027
- Sony isn't just facing the RAM crisis, but also a major backlash over its decision to end physical game discs
The RAM crisis is continuing to cause havoc with the hardware market, affecting component prices, PC makers, and potentially delaying next-gen console launches. However, it's not so bleak as you might think, at least in the eyes of CD Projekt Red's boss.
As reported by IGN, CD Projekt Red's (CDPR) joint CEO Michal Nowakowski was interviewed by The Game Business and voiced his confidence that next-gen consoles will survive the RAM crisis despite the prospect of high pricing.
This comes amid concerns and projections from industry insiders and analysts that RAM shortages are going to get worse in 2027 and beyond. The big three memory chip makers — Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron — are expected to increase combined capital spending to nearly 340% from 2024 to 2027.
It doesn't look like RAM shortages and high hardware prices will die down anytime soon, but this doesn't faze Nowakowski, at least when it comes to ensuring CDPR delivers the best possible content.
"Consoles are still necessary to broaden the audience on the casual or semi-casual level. It's important to have easy to plug in and enjoy gaming," Nowakowski says.
"I'm a big believer that they're [consoles] going to weather the storm. Pricing is the objective challenge. And the rumors... we hear them about the next-gen being delayed. I don't know if they're true."
RAM isn't the only worry for Sony(Image credit: Shutterstock / Girts Ragelis)Besides the RAM crisis pushing up prices and causing potential console launch delays, Sony in particular may have an uphill battle ahead. Its recent decision to end production of physical game discs for PlayStation consoles, starting in January 2028, already has gamers in the ecosystem protesting and planning alternatives to escape the impending doom of discs.
An all-digital future means any form of game ownership will cease to exist, as digital content can theoretically be taken away from gamers at any time, and that has led to a loud (and justified, I think) reaction from the console community.
The Game Business didn't question Nowakowski directly about physical game ownership, but did probe further on the effect that delayed next-gen consoles might have, with Nowakowski making CDPR's stance very clear.
"If the next-gen gets delayed, it could be the case that some ideas [for games] are put on a shelf for the future. We'd have to adjust. We're not worried on the commercial side. Consoles are here to stay."
It's fair to say that Nowakowski's last statement is a realistic assessment. Even given Sony's dismissal of physical game discs, this isn't going to lead to a complete collapse in the popularity of consoles.
However, Sony may not make life easy for itself and publishers such as CDPR, as from 2028, when the discs are dumped with the PlayStation ecosystem, a hit to games sales is far from impossible — especially if the ongoing backlash from gamers is anything to go by.
- Huawei launches its Huawei Watch D3, its third iteration of its blood pressure-focused health watch
- With an inbuilt inflatable cuff, the watch now suppors 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, helping users track trends
- It comes as Apple, Google and smart ring startups have made advances with LED-based monitoring
Huawei has unveiled its Huawei Watch D3, the latest version of its health watch with a specific focus on blood pressure. The Watch D series is a cool bit of kit that stands out from the best smartwatches on the market by way of its mechanized components — its main selling point is a strap with inflatable bladders running through it, swelling and acting as a cuff to measure blood pressure accurately at any time.
While a great idea, previous iterations looked quite boxy, and more like the medical devices they clearly are intended to be than daily wear smartwatches.
The Huawei Watch D3 aims to change that, boasting advances over previous iterations — especially in design. It's said to be just 11.3mm thick and weigh 40g, with an 'ultra-narrow' version of its inflatable band. This makes it not only easier to wear all day, but also at night.
Night wear seems to be crucial, as the Watch D3 offers '24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)' in accordance with medical guidelines according to Huawei. Its press release says ABPM helps users "track blood pressure trends throughout the day and night, even while asleep.
"During the day, intervals can be customized and manual measurements taken as needed; at night, the watch inflates automatically with quieter operation for reduced sleep disturbance."
The watch also takes pre- and post-exercise blood pressure measurements, and comes with other smartwatch features such as GPS, outdoor route navigation, and running analytics. Family members can view each others' stats via the Health Community feature, checking in on those at risk.
(Image credit: HUawei)Available in black, white and gold from £399.99 (around $545 / AU$745), the watch is unavailable in the US due to the ongoing Huawei telecomms tech ban.
Instead, people in the US who want a blood pressure-measuring wearable have to look elsewhere. No one is quite doing what Huawei is with the inflatable wrist cuff technology, even three years on from the original Watch D, but great strides have been made with optical LEDs, which were once thought of as the 'holy grail' of smartwatch capabilities.
Apple now offers a Hypertension feature, monitoring your sleep over 30 days to flag signs of possible hypertension, while the Google Pixel Watch 5 sports a Blood Pressure Detection feature.
Elsewhere, the Signal Ring startup from an ex-head of Android is focused solely on cuffless, calibration-less blood pressure sensing via a smart ring.