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South China Morning Post
China scrambles to close AI cyber gap as Anthropic, OpenAI surge with new models
A new IDC report projects China's AI cybersecurity market will surge from 1.58 billion yuan in 2025 to 59.35 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) by 2030, a 37-fold increase. This growth is fueled by domestic cybersecurity vendors aggressively integrating AI into products for security operations, threat detection, and data protection. However, IDC senior research manager Austin Zhao notes that China's current AI security models significantly lag behind US models like Mythos from Anthropic or OpenAI. The report underscores the accelerating AI arms race in cybersecurity, with China investing heavily to close the gap while US companies continue to push boundaries.
ExperimentConfidence: MediumMid term horizonGeopolitical risk: High
Published 10 May 2026, 03:25 UTC1 min read
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Summary
TL;DR
- IDC projects China's AI cybersecurity market to reach $8.7 billion by 2030, up from $230 million in 2025.
- China's current AI security models are far behind US counterparts such as Anthropic's Mythos.
- Domestic vendors are adopting AI for security operations, threat detection, and data protection.
- The US-China AI cyber gap is narrowing but still significant, with Chinese models rapidly improving.
- The report highlights escalating global competition in AI-driven cybersecurity.
Interesting facts
- China's AI cybersecurity spending is expected to grow 37-fold in just five years.
- Mythos, likely a model from Anthropic or OpenAI, is cited as a benchmark China is trying to match.