DeepSeek leads surge in low cost Chinese open-weight models on US platform

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

Chang, M., & Shen, X. (2026, August 25). DeepSeek leads surge in low cost Chinese open-weight models on US platform. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3365204/deepseek-leads-surge-low-cost-chinese-open-weight-models-us-platform?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-08-25 · by Minxiao Chang, Xinmei Shen

Quick Summary

Vercel's US web development platform saw a surge in usage of low-cost Chinese open-weight AI models on Saturday, when they reached a record share of 62%. This is a significant increase from June 24, when open-weight models accounted for only 28% of token volume on the platform. According to Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, DeepSeek's latest lightweight model drove this surge in adoption, while demand for Anthropic's more expensive Fable 5 model stalled. The data also shows that open-weight models surpassed proprietary ones in terms of token volume, making up 54% of total consumption on Tuesday.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On Saturday, a record 62% of open-weight models were used on the US web development platform Vercel's AI Gateway, surpassing proprietary models which accounted for 38%. This was a significant shift from June 24, when only 28% of token volume was made up of open-weight models, while 72% was comprised of closed ones. The surge in popularity of open-weight models was driven by DeepSeek's latest lightweight model, as well as high costs associated with Anthropic's Fable 5 cutting-edge AI model. Open-weight models from China also reached a record high on the platform, suggesting increased demand for low-cost alternatives. This trend was highlighted by Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch on social media.

Written for “Deep learning AI on Shopify” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Deep learning AI on Shopify
Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
2
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
100%
2 of 2 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Minxiao Chang
9 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Minxiao Chang →
Xinmei Shen
9 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Xinmei Shen →

Topics

China Chinese DeepSeek Open Vercel

Subjects

DeepSeek ORG · 2× Vercel ORG · 2× Anthropic ORG · 1× China GPE · 1× Chinese NORP · 1× Guillermo Rauch PERSON · 1× Open ORG · 1× Rauch PERSON · 1× Vercel AI Gateway’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

DeepSeek leads surge in low cost Chinese open-weight models on US platform Open models reached a record share of 62 per cent on a US web development platform on Saturday, a reversal of figures in June The usage of open-weight AI models from China hit a record high on a popular US web development platform, driven largely by DeepSeek’s latest lightweight model, as business demand for Anthropic’s cutting-edge Fable 5 stalls due to high costs. Open-weight models accounted for 54 per cent of token volume on Vercel’s AI Gateway on Tuesday, surpassing the 46 per cent consumed by proprietary models, according to data on its website. Open models reached a record share of 62 per cent on the platform on Saturday, dwarfing closed systems’ 38 per cent, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch said on social media.
framing: speculative · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-25
2026-08-25 · South China Morning Post
DeepSeek leads surge in low cost Chinese open-weight models on US platform · speculative framing

Claims (2 extracted, 2 hedged)

DeepSeek leads surge in low cost Chinese open-weight models on US platform Open models reached a record share of 62 per cent on a US web development platform on Saturday, a reversal of figures in June The usage of open-weight AI models from China hit a record high on a popular US web development platform, driven largely by DeepSeek’s latest lightweight model, as business demand for Anthropic’s cutting-edge Fable 5 stalls due to high costs. Open-weight models accounted for 54 per cent of token volume on Vercel’s AI Gateway on Tuesday, surpassing the 46 per cent consumed by proprietary models, according to data on its website. Open models reached a record share of 62 per cent on the platform on Saturday, dwarfing closed systems’ 38 per cent, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch said on social media. uncertain
Rauch → lead → media
This was in stark contrast to the breakdown on June 24, when open-weight models accounted for only 28 per cent of Vercel AI Gateway’s token volume, compared with 72 per cent for closed ones, according to Rauch. uncertain
models → account → Rauch
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