One-sentence summary
Using this week's OpenRouter data from Wuzhen, steps to read the weekly usage board: basis, China-US comparison, consecutive lead, and the cost logic behind it.
Steps
Step 1: Clarify the basis
OpenRouter is a global multi-model API aggregator; weekly usage reflects real developer calls, not benchmark scores.
Step 2: Compare China vs US
This week Chinese models totaled 93.54 trillion tokens versus 22.47 trillion for US models, with the top five all being Chinese.
Step 3: Check the trend
Chinese models have outpaced US models for 26 consecutive weeks, showing the lead is sustained, not a one-week blip.
Step 4: Understand the cost logic
Budget-limited overseas teams and independent developers favor Chinese open models at lower inference cost, a key reason the usage gap widens.
Sources
- Guangming Online: Wuzhen voices open source
