Coinbase joins the rush to Chinese AI models as Western labs face a pricing stress test

Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company's shift to Chinese AI models like GLM 5.2 and Kimi 2.7. An automated routing system selects the best model for each request based on task and cost, improving the hit rate from 5% to 60%. Despite rising token usage, Coinbase has halved its AI spending, reflecting the pricing pressures faced by Western AI labs.