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Global AI usage hit 36.1 trillion tokens in the first week of June. This is a 13.5% increase from the previous week.
The data from OpenRouter shows a massive shift. Chinese models now lead the global rankings.
The top four models are:
- DeepSeek V4 Flash
- Tencent Hunyuan Hy3
- Alibaba Qwen3.5
- ByteDance Doubao 2.0 Pro
US models fell to fifth place and below.
DeepSeek V4 Flash holds the number one spot. It processed 3.69 trillion tokens. This model is fast and cheap. Its cost is 1/10th of the full version.
Developers choose it because it works. One startup cut monthly API costs from $20,000 to $2,000 by switching to DeepSeek.
Why are these Chinese models winning?
- DeepSeek wins on price and speed.
- Tencent wins through the WeChat ecosystem.
- Alibaba wins through the open source community.
High usage does not always mean better quality. High usage often means lower prices.
DeepSeek writes Python and JavaScript well. However, Claude remains better for complex system design. Chinese models win on cost-efficiency. They are still catching up on top-tier reasoning and multimodal abilities.
The market is changing. OpenAI and Google are preparing new models. But DeepSeek proved that open source and low costs can break the dominance of closed models. Developers no longer need to pay high prices when cheap alternatives exist.
By late 2026, building AI apps will be extremely cheap. You can combine different models to save money.
But you must ask yourself one question: If everyone can build similar apps using cheap models, what is your advantage?
Cheap models change the game. They do not change your need for a real business moat.
Optional learning community: https://t.me/GyaanSetuAi