Beware the 'China's AI Has Gone Astray' Theory, People's Daily Commentary Says

A People's Daily commentary pushed back against a viral online claim that China has "turned gunpowder into fireworks again," arguing its AI is "going astray" because 55% of its token consumption flows to AI short dramas and video versus 58% in the U.S. to coding and enterprise automation. The commentary says ignoring differences in totals, caliber and samples to make a mechanical comparison is arbitrary; token flow reflects market "sales" but not a nation's R&D direction. It highlights policy (the "AI+" action plan, new-quality productivity), investment (the first 100k-card super-intelligent compute pool, the "Panshi" science foundation model 2.0) and results (AI across the "artificial sun," China's space station, drug discovery). China's application-led model puts AI into factories, farms, healthcare and culture, it concludes, so the "astray" theory itself is astray.

Source: People’s Daily / China Economic Net, Oct 30, 2026 | 2026-10-30