SAIL Media

SAIL Media

The Z.ai Playbook

Zixuan Li on the Chinese AI ecosystem

Jordan Schneider, Irene Zhang, Lily Ottinger, and Nathan Lambert
Nov 21, 2025
∙ Paid
This post originally appeared in ChinaTalk.

“Chinese AI companies chase recognition from Silicon Valley because without open-sourcing, we’re never even allowed into the global conversation.”

Zixuan Li …

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
Irene Zhang's avatar
A guest post by
Irene Zhang
Irene works at ChinaTalk and writes about AI & China, broadly speaking.
Subscribe to Irene
Lily Ottinger's avatar
A guest post by
Lily Ottinger
I write about the political economy of authoritarian states. Editor and analyst for ChinaTalk.
Subscribe to Lily
© 2026 SAIL Media, LLC · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture