ChainCatcher report, according to Reuters, Citibank’s latest data shows that the adoption of low-cost open-source models is rapidly increasing, driven by corporate demands to cut AI spending. In June this year, the proportion of tokens processed by open-source models on the AI aggregation platform OpenRouter rose from 34% in January to 65%. Citibank’s report specifically highlights cost differences as the core driver of this trend. Data shows that certain Chinese open-source large models are continuously narrowing the performance gap with leading U.S. models, while charging as little as $0.18 per million tokens—compared to an industry average of approximately $4 for leading large models, representing a cost difference of more than 20 times.
Citi: OpenRouter's open-source model token share surges to 65%, cost gap between Chinese and U.S. models reaches 20x
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Summary
Citi reports that open interest in open-source AI models has surged, with OpenRouter’s token share reaching 65% in June 2026, up from 34% in January. Chinese models now cost as little as 18 cents per million tokens, compared to $4 for U.S. models, creating a 20x cost disparity. Altcoins to watch may include projects linked to open-source AI infrastructure as demand increases.
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