CES 2026 witnessed an increasing push for global cross-industry collaboration around open-source AI models. Chinese tech companies, like Alibaba or Deepseek, were notably primary advocates for such cooperation mechanisms.
At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), that took place in Las Vegas between January 6 and January 9, Chinese companies were among the most active supporters of open-source innovation in the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI).
A transition from closed competition toward a more integrated global technology was discussed at the CES Asia Night by technology and business leaders.
Some of the brightest examples of such open-source AI models in action were presented by Chinese tech giants. Alibaba, a major Chinese cloud tech, e-commerce, and payment provider. The conglomerate released its Qwen series as an open-weight AI large language model, and claims there are already more than 100,000 variations created by international developers.
DeepSeek, another Chinese AI research lab, which made headlines last year with its affordable alternative to American LLM models, rolled out its R3 reasoning model under an open license as well. Meanwhile, Chinese robotics firms, e.g. Unitree and Agibot, have also been leveraging open-source reasoning layers to perform complex tasks.
However, open-source preference has not been exclusively a Chinese prerogative. Many firms in the United States and Europe are also embracing shared AI-driven platforms, in particular, for manufacturing, media, content creation, and healthcare. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang noted that the advancement of open models ensures that digital intelligence does not “leave anyone behind.”
Nvidia itself has cooperated with Siemens, a leading German engineering company, to create a new industrial AI operating system with “agentic” software capabilities. In another partnership, the famous chip developer joined Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind for the creation of a next-generation humanoid robot.
Trade groups and international regulators, such as the Home Connectivity Alliance, also advocate for open ecosystems in the smart home sector. If that were an industry norm, devices from different manufacturers could communicate seamlessly in the IoT ecosystem to improve energy efficiency.
On a legislative level, the European Union AI Act encourages open-source models to boost European competitiveness in the field and ensure consumer protection and awareness.
