As the worldwide competition to be at the forefront of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) intensifies, recent statistics reveal that the contest is no longer a duel between just two contenders.
The United States remains ahead, but China is narrowing the performance gap. Europe is also making progress. as indicated in a recent report from Stanford University.
In 2024, US-based institutions developed 40 significant AI models, compared to China which created 15, and Europe which generated only three.
Even though many were created, the 2025 Stanford Artificial Intelligence Index examined various metrics and discovered that Chinese models nearly matched U.S. levels in two key areas: Massive Multitask Language Understanding (MMLU), which assesses an AI's grasp of information and problem-solving skills; and HumanEval, which gauges proficiency in generating code.
"As tight as can be, with nobody taking the front runner’s position," stated the researchers from Stanford University in their report.
The outcomes emerge as international leaders assert that triumphing in the AI competition is vital for national security and progress in health, commerce, and technology.
At the same time, firms like OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek, along with numerous competitors, are vying for supremacy in developing top-tier AI systems.
Catch up
When OpenAI’s ChatGPT gained widespread popularity at the end of 2022, it was joined by just one other company with cutting-edge AI technology: Google. However, looking ahead to today, numerous U.S. firms, like Meta , Elon Musk’s xAI and Anthropic The report indicated that they are closing the gap.
Another set of tests indicated that China’s DeepSeek R1 model was the nearest competitor to those developed by OpenAI and Google.
In January, DeepSeek ignited excitement when it introduced R1, its AI model and chatbot. The company asserted that this technology was more cost-effective and matched the performance of OpenAI’s competing ChatGPT model.
According to the report, the leading contributors of prominent machine learning models in 2024 included OpenAI with seven models, Google with six, and China’s Alibaba with four.
France’s Mistral AI came in eighth place with three models.
Most patents
A clear indication that the AI competition is intensifying can be seen in the surge of AI-related publications and patent filings, highlighting China’s significant lead over the United States.
The study revealed that by 2023, China was at the forefront with regard to total AI patents, holding nearly 70 percent of all granted patents. Following closely behind was South Korea in the second position, while Luxembourg claimed the third spot and notably led in AI patents per person.
The report also noted that AI model development is becoming more of a worldwide effort, highlighted by significant launches from areas including the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.