Former Google CEO warns cheaper Chinese AI models could dominate global market

ISTANBUL

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Tuesday that he is worried most countries might turn to Chinese AI models due to their lower cost.

Speaking on a podcast, Schmidt said the largest AI models in the US are closed-source, while China’s are open-source. “The geopolitical issue there, of course, is that open source is free, and the closed-source models are not free,” he added.

“So the vast majority of governments and countries who don't have the kind of money that the West does will end up standardizing on Chinese models not because they're better, but because they're free," Schmidt told the podcast Moonshots with Peter Diamandis.

Open-source AI models enable anyone to access and use the software freely for any purpose.

This year’s surge in use of Chinese AI models like DeepSeek has heightened worries about data privacy, national security, and the US’ technological lead.

Schmidt was Google's CEO from 2001 to 2015 and led the company through its 2004 initial public offering.

Recently, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also said that China will win the AI race, but later clarified that the US remains ahead and must continue to lead globally, while criticizing restrictive US regulations and pointing to China’s subsidies.