China’s Kimi K3 AI pauses new sign-ups after demand overwhelms capacity

China’s Moonshot AI halted new subscriptions to its Kimi K3 model after a surge in demand pushed the system to its limits just days after launch, underscoring the strains on compute and infrastructure facing upstart model providers. The company said it would prioritize existing users while adding capacity in batches, as analysts pointed to the high compute requirements of the 2.8-trillion-parameter open-source model. The debut, which seeks to challenge products from Anthropic and OpenAI, fed investor jitters that lower-cost Chinese models could pressure U.S. pricing power even as Washington’s chip curbs constrain China’s access to advanced hardware. Rival Chinese players including Alibaba and Zhipu have also rolled out heavyweight models, intensifying the race to scale amid rising costs and supply bottlenecks.

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