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The direction

Where the AI race is heading

AI competition is moving away from frontier models alone toward control of the stack that turns models into governed execution. That shift is being carried by agent environments tied to enterprise identity, data, workflow, and security, and by model access that is increasingly routed through managed clouds, compatibility layers, owned product surfaces, and now access controls. The infrastructure race underneath is widening into financing, datacenter capacity, and energy planning. What is particular now is that the same operating layer is being fixed at institution scale while eligibility to use advanced models is starting to narrow along regulatory and geopolitical lines.

The move

What actors actually did

Microsoft’s AI model sales surge in China as OpenAI and Anthropic expand international training and access

Microsoft’s business selling AI models to Chinese companies has grown notably, with ByteDance expected to spend over $1 billion annually on Microsoft AI and cloud services. This activity marks a step up in Microsoft’s influence in Asia, expanding its role beyond development into direct model deployment and regional business integration.

Meanwhile, OpenAI broadened practical AI training internationally, launching new OpenAI Academy courses developed with BCG, Accenture, and BBVA to accelerate organizational fluency and adoption. Anthropic also moved east, opening its Seoul office and partnering with Korean enterprises for enterprise-wide rollouts of its Claude Code model at major organizations including LG CNS, Hanwha Solutions, and Samsung SDS.

Across other fronts, Google continues to invest in AI infrastructure, announcing a $1.5 billion expansion of its Alabama data center campus. The competitive landscape is widening, as providers focus on cloud, education, and geographic reach alongside core AI development.

Sources