The African firms adopting Chinese AI as US-China rivalry intensifies
African businesses are increasingly adopting Chinese AI models, such as Zhipu AI's GLM-5.3, due to their cost-effectiveness and flexibility. This trend highlights a pragmatic approach to the US-China AI rivalry, where firms prioritize performance and value over geopolitical alignment.
Why it matters
The adoption of Chinese AI in emerging markets challenges the dominance of Western tech giants and demonstrates how global businesses are navigating the technological 'bifurcation' between the US and China.
The United States may want the world to choose sides in the AI race with China, but in Africa, many businesses are pursuing a more pragmatic strategy: using Chinese models where they offer better value or flexibility, while keeping their options open.
For example, when African insurtech platform Curacel expanded the range of artificial intelligence (AI) models powering its internal infrastructure, it did not look only to Silicon Valley.
Instead, the Nigeria-based firm – which provides AI-powered claims and fraud-detection infrastructure to African insurers and fintech companies – added GLM-5.3, a Chinese model developed by Beijing-based Zhipu AI, alongside models from Western providers.
Henry Mascot, chief executive and co-founder of Curacel, said Chinese models delivered comparable results at lower cost on high-volume tasks such as coding, data extraction, classification and customer support, although Western systems remained stronger on the most demanding reasoning and reliability-sensitive work.
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