Niu Lai: The Story Behind China's Open Source Models Giving Away Tokens Globally for Free
A rather strange thing I noticed recently from the news. On one hand, China's Zhipu AI anonymously gave away tokens for free to the world on Openrouter. On the other hand, Deepseek, China's top AI brand, significantly increased its prices.
On one hand, Deepseek's founder Liang Wenfeng's speech from a closed-door meeting was leaked, stating that the bottleneck for development was entirely on computing cards. On the other hand, Zhipu AI's various scores crush Deepseek. It seems Zhipu exists to slap Liang Wenfeng in the face. You say the model can't keep up because computing cards are insufficient, so I'll release a smarter model than yours. You want to raise prices, so I'll offer unlimited free supply globally.
I think there's more to this story. Everyone knows Zhipu is practically the Party's own son, with state-owned backing unmatched in China's AI circle. Although Deepseek also has state-owned investment, it's not on the same level as Zhipu and has a strong rebellious streak. Rebellious kids don't like being disciplined.
The Party-state wants to buy out Deepseek, which grew up on the wild side, with a small amount of money. But Deepseek is wild, not stupid. Why should they? However, Deepseek doesn't dare to offend the big daddy, yet wants to get some funding from him. So, they cry day and night saying the cards are bad, you need to give me money, you need to let me transfer money out, you need to let me buy American cards. Internally, this is like privately asking parents for money, but when it gets out, it's equivalent to pointing at their father's face in front of everyone and saying, "Look at so-and-so's dad, and then look at yours!" As a result, American cards crossing mountains and rivers into the big daddy's house became more profitable than the fentanyl the big daddy sells to America, and in the end, the father is blamed for being incompetent. Can this father tolerate it? The father is just overbearing, not stupid!
The father, seeing the wild child both picking his increasingly tight pockets and dragging his name through the mud, was furious. But the father dared not act out – he was still counting on this co-opted wild child to bring him international prestige. Isn't this better than those robot laughing stocks that spark and flash all over the playground?
Let me go off on a tangent here – I personally don't quite understand. If the pursuit is purely speed, humans have already created machines that can run at hundreds of kilometers per hour, and more importantly, can brake, carry people and goods. What's the point of robots being faster than that? If you say the key is the final burst, then missiles are even better than you, faster, can lock onto targets, and can explode. Robot running speed is truly a useless skill! Unless you're performing for Xi Jinping and suddenly charge at him, then I admit it's useful.
Back to the point. The father is angry in his heart, but can't bring himself to scold, and can't bring himself to hit. What to do? Let his own son, Zhipu, set an example and subtly hint – these are the parent's classic PUA tactics. "Look how successful your older brother is!" "Look how ambitious your older brother is!" "Look how your older brother doesn't waste money!"
Liang, after all, is not someone who can be easily manipulated. If your older brother is capable, let him do it! The little bit he sells is embarrassing enough! If you have the ability, let him sell as much as I do!
This is outrageous! Daring to challenge the father. Then the father must personally teach you a lesson. So, he mobilizes national computing power to support his own son. Sell cheap? No, give it away for free! You wild child don't want to acknowledge your father, don't want to be disciplined? Then the father will have his older brother steal your business too – so you know how many eyes Lord Ma has!
This global free token feast is less about a landlord doing good deeds and more about a clash of swords in the business world. The whole world watched in bewilderment, only Liang understood the chill behind it.
This strategy of generously distributing tokens is not new for the father. The Belt and Road spending spree is still fresh in memory, and the spending sprees in Africa and Honduras are equally unforgettable, leaving people stunned and amused.
The only thing unchanged are the ordinary Chinese people – they are desperately paying social security when money is being thrown around, and their Zhipu subscription fees remain unchanged when tokens are being given away.
If the father doesn't give money, Deepseek raises prices, and Liang Sheng becomes Liang Zi. The older brother is obedient and capable, but cannot do without his father's support. However, if you think this is just a story of a parent PUAing a child, you are superficial.
Parents who wish their children to become dragons don't actually want their children to become dragons, but rather to prove that they themselves are dragons. The father is about to attend a major international parent bragging session in the United States. If other people's children can play the piano, can my child still only spread lime in the village square? With this global token giveaway, the father has shown off fiercely before his US visit, so he won't lose face when meeting Trump. After all, the father's reputation is more important than anything.
Whether it's a bull or Xi coming, who cares, I'm already dying of laughter.