China's new AI model halts new subscriptions as demand swamps capacity - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

What the report says

ABC News, carrying an Associated Press report, said Beijing-based Moonshot AI has temporarily stopped accepting new subscriptions for its Kimi K3 artificial intelligence model after demand surged soon after its public launch late last week. In a post on X late Sunday, the company said usage over the previous 48 hours had pushed its systems near current capacity, and that it would focus on serving existing subscribers while adding more capacity and reopening access in batches.

The report frames the pause as an example of the infrastructure pressures facing Chinese AI developers as their models attract users inside and outside China. Kimi K3 has drawn attention because it is an open-source, lower-cost advanced model, part of a broader wave that includes DeepSeek, Alibaba’s Qwen line and Zhipu’s GLM models. ABC/AP reported that K3 has 2.8 trillion parameters and is being described as the largest open-source AI model, while its release is aimed at competing with leading systems from companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI.

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, told the AP that major model launches can quickly strain computing infrastructure, and said the surge suggests Moonshot lacks enough compute chips for the current level of demand. He also said the company may not have fully anticipated K3’s popularity, noting that the model is demanding and costly to run.

The development matters because it comes amid intensifying U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence. The AP report noted that Chinese model releases have affected investor concerns about U.S. AI firms’ pricing power, even as export restrictions limit China’s access to some advanced chips.