Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan said on Monday that Chinese artificial intelligence models are gaining users rapidly, supported by lower operating costs and performance that meets the requirements of a range of applications.
Speaking at a panel discussion organised by Singapore-based lender DBS, Tan said Chinese frontier AI models, including DeepSeek, Kimi and GLM, had benefited from lower costs per token, making them competitive alternatives in the expanding market for AI services.
Tan described adoption of the models as “very fast” and said their performance was “good enough” for many applications, highlighting the importance of cost efficiency alongside technological capabilities.
The Intel chief executive also expressed support for open-source AI development, arguing that broader access to technology could encourage greater efficiency and competition.
“I’m a strong believer of open source, that’s the best way to drive efficiency,” Tan said.
He added that market demand would ultimately determine which AI models were best suited to different applications, suggesting that developers and businesses would continue evaluating available systems according to their individual requirements.
Beyond artificial intelligence, Tan said quantum computing could become a mainstream technology within the next three to five years.
He also emphasised the importance of software in improving the efficiency of the computing infrastructure required to support emerging technologies.
His comments highlighted the growing role of operating costs, software optimisation and open-source development in shaping competition across the AI industry, alongside the potential for quantum computing to become more widely adopted in the coming years.
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