Goldman Sachs picks its favorite Chinese AI models — DeepSeek and ByteDance top the list

What happened

Goldman Sachs on July 12, 2026 published an in-depth report on China's AI model ecosystem. Analysts evaluated Chinese models on time-to-market, Arena score, valuation, and pricing potential. DeepSeek and ByteDance were named as preferred among private companies.

Context and impact

The report arrives amid US-China tech rivalry. Chinese models are increasingly penetrating American enterprises at 60–90% lower cost than OpenAI and Anthropic. Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Zhipu with a neutral rating and target valuation of $110 billion. The report may shift institutional interest toward specific Chinese AI names.

Details

• GS favorites: DeepSeek (private), ByteDance (private)
• Text models: Zhipu GLM and DeepSeek — best combination of pricing power and Arena score
• Revenue forecast: ¥35B (2026) → ¥879B (2030) = 25× growth
• Daily token consumption: 350 trillion → 4,600 trillion by 2030
• Zhipu: target valuation $110B, neutral GS rating