China’s AI Dragons Risk Choking Each Other: Catherine Thorbecke

It’s a story that has played out many times in the history of China’s tech sector. Notoriously fierce competition means that whenever a new craze comes along, scores of rivals emerge ready to pounce.

Firms are then locked in a race to the bottom when it comes to pricing. The food delivery wars forced out smaller players over the years and led bubble tea — another consumer fad fallen prey — to be sold this month for as little as 1.68 yuan (less than 25 cents). A similar cutthroat market has left behind a trail of zombie cars in the electric-vehicle sector. Now ...