Asian AI Firms Launch Rivals After US Export Ban

Two Asian AI startups launched rival models on the same day the US export ban on Anthropic's top AI systems was in full effect. One Chinese founder described his company's tool as a national security necessity. A Japanese startup said the timing was coincidental but now offers Asian customers a workaround for restricted US technology.

The Ban and the Rivals

On Wednesday, June 27, 2026, Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 unveiled its Tulongfeng AI tool. Zhou Hongyi warned of "one-way transparency" - a situation where some actors could access advanced detection capabilities while others could not.

That same week, Tokyo-based Sakana AI launched its Fugu model. Sakana AI was founded in 2023 by David Ha, Llion Jones, and Ren Ito. A Sakana AI spokesperson said "we were confident in the product on its own merits; the timing simply happened to coincide with a moment that brought it more attention than we expected." The company's website advertises "delivering frontier capability without the risk of export controls." The model was built for agent-style tasks, letting it coordinate and call upon various other models through their application programming interfaces.

The Bigger Picture

Anthropic had a run-rate revenue of $47 billion as of May 2026. The Trump Administration issued the order, blocking non-Americans from accessing the technology.

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The ban created a gap that Asian companies are now rushing to fill. Sakana AI says its model launch was not planned around the ban, but the company is using the moment to offer an alternative. David Ha, co-founder and CEO, said on X that "access to top models can disappear overnight" and that "collective intelligence is the practical hedge against this concentration of power."

Homegrown AI tools, designed to handle regional dialects and cultural context, are now stepping in to meet demand. Even if American companies could restore their reputation and resume sales after this export restriction is lifted, locally built alternatives are already established and gaining users.

What the Founders Say

Sakana AI co-founder Ren Ito published an op-ed in Project Syndicate last week. In that piece, he called on the US federal government to consider that its "first priority should be to preserve access, for America's closest allies." He said "AI should not become a technology that is hoarded; it should be one that is developed together."

David Ha pointed to the next step. "Orchestration Models are the next frontier, beyond bigger models," he said on X. Sakana AI's spokesperson noted that "U.S. models remain important to Asia" and that the current moment is "not a permanent realignment toward any one set of players."

What to Watch

Sakana AI is pitching Fugu specifically to Japanese corporations and government bodies that want to lessen their dependence on ever-stricter export regulations for AI. The company is not currently claiming that a permanent switch away from American AI in Asia has occurred.

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