China’s AI bundle is heading for emerging markets

China does not need to win the frontier model race to change who supplies AI infrastructure. It needs to become the default vendor to the 150-plus countries that will never train a frontier model of their own. That race will be settled by financing, physical infrastructure and relationships, not by benchmark scores. China has been building those relationships for over a decade under the Belt and Road Initiative and its digital arm, the Digital Silk Road. For infrastructure vendors the important point is that this is not a new approach. It is the telecom approach. Huawei entered emerging markets on…