China\'s AI companies are rapidly expanding global market share with low-cost open-source models that users can download and modify, as the United States regulates access to high-performance models from OpenAI and Anthropic. Some Chinese systems are assessed as comparable to Anthropic\'s top model in certain cybersecurity scenarios. The U.S. is easing some export bans but maintains a national export-control stance. Companies globally are rolling out new AI chips, tools and systems, while demand grows for cost-efficient AI use.

Competition among enterprise technology companies is intensifying to secure the title of the AI agent that corporate users use first at work. Companies spanning data infrastructure software and business applications are entering a race to build AI agent platforms that can safely and effectively use data across internal systems, including third-party systems. As technologies such as the Model Context Protocol evolve, firms are repositioning strategies, partnering while also competing, and accelerating investment across data and application layers.