Editor's note: Miao Zhengming is a lecturer in the School of National Security, People's Public Security University of China. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Recently, US tech giant Meta once again made some of its self-developed large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models freely available to external developers. Along with this release, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, published a lengthy essay outlining his strategic plan on AI: "Deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people and small businesses"; and "open source is a positive and important force for empowering people." This move clearly demonstrates that open-source AI models‌ have become an irreversible trend in the global development of AI.

China's long-standing commitment to promoting the inclusive development of open-source AI models and facilitating the free flow and efficient allocation of AI industry resources aligns perfectly with this global industry consensus.

First, at the top-level policy formulation, China actively supports the inclusive development of AI technology. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, noting that "In recent years, China has embraced AI with open arms. We have promoted interplay between an efficient market and a well-functioning government, strengthened AI innovation, actively advanced the AI Plus Initiative, and built a healthy ecosystem for all entities to thrive in together. The core smart economy industries are worth at least RMB 1 trillion yuan."

Guided by several policies, China established national-level open AI platforms that provide developers with essential computing power, data and algorithmic support, thereby ensuring the prosperity of the open-source ecosystem at the infrastructure level.

Moreover, the activities of various Chinese enterprises demonstrate a strategic commitment to open-source as a key avenue for development. China has emerged as the world's most active and fastest-growing provider of large models, with the cumulative global downloads of its open-source models surpassing 10 billion. This has broken the technological monopolies held by certain nations and fostered the democratization and sharing of global AI technology.

For example, Alibaba has officially released its flagship large model, Qwen; boasting a total of 2.4 trillion parameters (with 95 billion active parameters), it allows developers to download the model parameters for independent deployment. Meanwhile, Z.ai has open-sourced its ChatGLM series, significantly lowering the hardware barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises and research institutions looking to deploy large models. These concrete actions illustrate how Chinese enterprises are actively driving the democratization of large model technology.

Regarding international cooperation, China actively leverages the open-source ecosystem of large-scale AI models to empower the development of the Global South and bridge the digital divide. Guided by the "Global AI Governance Initiative" and the "AI+ International Cooperation Initiative," China continues to make its domestically developed large-scale models available to the world.

For instance, by utilizing Chinese open-source foundational models, developers in the Global South countries can fine-tune and train AI applications tailored to local languages at a minimal cost, facilitating the dissemination of agricultural knowledge and providing support for basic medical consultations. This open-source sharing model breaks down the high barriers associated with traditional technology licensing, ensuring that technological benefits truly reach the global community.

The open-source AI models hold profound significance, primarily in three respects. First, open-source AI models break down technological monopolies and foster inclusive global development.

Closed-source models are often dominated by a handful of tech giants, creating high barriers to entry. In contrast, open-source large models make cutting-edge algorithms and model weights available to the global public, drastically lowering the computational costs and technical hurdles for developers across different countries and regions. This enables small and medium-sized enterprises, research institutions and even individual developers to access top-tier AI technology at minimal cost; it prevents the monopolization of technology by a few capital interests or institutions, thereby ensuring that technology benefits everyone and promoting "AI equity."

The open-source model also eliminates the waste of resources associated with developers "reinventing the wheel." Developers can stand on the "shoulders of giants," utilizing open-source foundation models for fine-tuning and secondary development to rapidly deploy them across diverse sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing. This model of collaborative innovation not only accelerates the pace of AI technological evolution but also fosters a multitude of innovative applications within the open-source ecosystem, directly empowering the real economy.

Furthermore, open-source AI models enhance system transparency and facilitate collaborative efforts to address security vulnerabilities. Closed-source models often function as "black boxes," making it difficult for users to understand their data processing and inference mechanisms, which entails unforeseen security and ethical risks. In contrast, open-source models allow researchers worldwide to examine the underlying code and model architecture, enabling "white-box testing."

Through the collective efforts of the global developer community, security hazards such as model hallucinations, data biases and backdoor vulnerabilities can be identified more efficiently, with remediation strategies rapidly proposed. An open ecosystem places algorithms under the public scrutiny of diverse stakeholders, rendering intangible technological power visible and subject to regulation. This collaborative approach strikes a better balance between AI technological innovation and security.

Additionally, open-source AI models help bridge the digital divide and empower technological development in the Global South. High commercial costs of application programming interface and limitations on computing power place many developing countries at risk of marginalization in the AI era.

Open-source large models offer these nations an opportunity to "leapfrog" traditional development stages. By leveraging free, open-source models and incorporating local linguistic and cultural data for localized training, the Global South can build AI applications tailored to their specific needs at a low cost. This effectively bridges the technological gap and fosters balanced development within the global digital economy.

In summary, the open-source AI models‌ represent not merely a model of technological development, but a historical trend that fosters technological equity and ensures technology remains safe and controllable. Openness, collaboration and shared progress characterize the development of AI in China. Experience has shown that China's advocacy for an open and collaborative approach to AI governance aligns with industry dynamics and offers a viable model for global AI governance.

This approach has not only significantly lowered the barriers to technology adoption but has also shaped a new ecosystem for AI development and fueled the prosperity of the global open-source technology landscape.

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