Yang Zhilin leads Moonshot AI as its Kimi K3 model challenges the dominance of US-based OpenAI and Anthropic.

Yang Zhilin, the founder of Moonshot AI, has positioned his startup as a major contender in the global artificial intelligence race with the release of the Kimi K3 model. The 2.8-trillion-parameter model has drawn significant attention for its ability to perform on par with leading US systems, trailing only OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 and Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 in overall capability. The administration announced that the rapid development of Chinese models is narrowing the technological gap between the US and China. While American labs often keep their most advanced systems proprietary, Moonshot and Alibaba are emphasizing open-weight releases, allowing developers to download and modify the models freely. This strategy has helped Moonshot achieve a valuation of $20 billion in just five months. Despite the intense competition, Yang Zhilin remains focused on long-term growth, noting that the journey toward artificial general intelligence is still in its early stages. The success of Kimi K3 has already forced the company to temporarily freeze new subscriptions to manage high demand.

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