Chinese startup Moonshot AI, backed by Alibaba Group, has unveiled a new artificial intelligence model named Kimi K3, a move that intensifies global competition with major US companies in the sector, notably OpenAI and Anthropic.

The company said the new model delivers performance that rivals the latest AI models developed by US firms, reflecting the accelerating pace of competition between China and the United States in one of the most critical technology sectors.

According to Moonshot AI, the Kimi K3 model consists of 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the largest open-source AI model announced to date.

The number of parameters is a key indicator of a model's size and its ability to process data and handle complex tasks. The company announced it will fully release the model for free to developers worldwide by the end of July.