US China AI competition: China’s AI share hit 13% - Zuckerberg says innovate

Mark Zuckerberg is drawing a clear line in an intensifying debate: when it comes to the US China AI competition, banning Chinese models is the wrong move. The Meta CEO argues that America’s best weapon is building better technology, not erecting barriers — a position that puts him at odds with much of Washington’s current posture.

Key takeaways

• Mark Zuckerberg says the US should out-innovate China in AI, not ban Chinese models.
• US AI models held 93% of global AI web traffic in August 2025, according to a RAND Corporation study across 135 countries.
• China’s share of global AI traffic surged from 3% to 13% in just two months following DeepSeek’s R1 launch in January 2025.
• US semiconductor export restrictions limit China’s access to chips like the Nvidia H200 and AMD MI325X, though their effectiveness is complicated.
• US AI dominance is backed by private capital and developer ecosystems; China leans on industrial policy and subsidized scale.

Meta’s stance: innovate, don’t restrict

Zuckerberg’s argument, reported by the Financial Times, is straightforward: the United States should not ban Chinese AI models. In his view, the right response to rising Chinese competition is doubling down on American innovation — not trade restrictions that could slow adoption or create a false sense of security.

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