Nikkei: AI model release cycles in US and China shorten to 44 days

According to a report by Nikkei, the average release cycle for new AI models from major US and Chinese firms has shortened to 44 days as of September 2026, roughly one-third of the previous duration. Data tracking companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, Google, Alibaba, and DeepSeek shows a significant acceleration in development frequency since April 2026. Reports indicate that AI agents are increasingly leading development tasks, with OpenAI and Anthropic showing substantial increases in AI-driven coding and research efficiency.