Open-weight Chinese models reshape token share on OpenRouter

Reporting based on OpenRouter usage data showed Chinese-origin models taking a large share of routed token volume by late June, while US-origin models held a much smaller share than a year earlier. Lower cost and increasingly competitive capability are key drivers.

Token share is not revenue share or a complete enterprise-market measure, but it is a useful signal that model procurement is becoming a cost, governance and deployment decision—not only a benchmark decision.