Bloomberg Opinion columnist Catherine Thorbecke argues that ultra-cheap Chinese artificial intelligence, while squeezing the economics of Silicon Valley rivals, is becoming an equally risky price war for China’s own AI sector. The piece notes that DeepSeek warned customers to expect higher prices before unveiling new rate structures for its V4-Pro and V4-Flash models, with some charges rising several times over. It frames China’s aggressive AI pricing strategy as difficult to sustain in its current form, raising questions about long-term profitability for Chinese AI firms that have competed primarily on cost rather than margin.
