Bloomberg Intelligence

China's AI Now Trails the US by Just 3%, Bloomberg Intelligence Finds

America’s lead in AI over China has shrunk to a record-low 3% on benchmark scores, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report published Monday, after DeepSeek’s V4.1 Flash release in September. Senior analyst Robert Lea says the progress spells further market share gains for Chinese labs — and casts doubt on how long US supremacy lasts. Full story in slides above — Sources: Bloomberg Intelligence via The Business Times and The Edge Singapore, October 5, 2026. ...

A red line chart on a dark display showing the US-China AI benchmark gap narrowing to 3 percent, with a silicon chip glowing in the foreground

US AI Lead Over China Shrinks to 3% as DeepSeek Gains Ground

Three percent. That’s all that’s left of America’s lead over China in artificial intelligence. Top Chinese AI models now trail their US rivals by just 3% on benchmark scores, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report published Monday, October 5. The gap sat at roughly 9% in May and around 15% earlier this year, and the move followed the September release of DeepSeek’s V4.1 Flash model. Senior analyst Robert Lea, who wrote the report, said the trend points to further market-share gains for Chinese labs. ...