June 27, 2026
Pufferfish, dragons, and comment chaos
Asian AI startups launch Mythos-like models
AI ban backlash: Asia jumps in and the comments instantly turn into a food fight
TLDR: Japan’s Sakana AI and China’s 360 launched new AI tools right as U.S. restrictions cut off some of America’s top systems abroad. Online, people are split between calling it a smart response to a bad ban, a shameless copy job, or proof the whole global AI power game is getting messy fast.
The real fireworks here aren’t just about new artificial intelligence tools from Japan and China — they’re in the comments, where people are arguing over whether this is a clever workaround, a copycat flex, or a full-on warning shot. After the U.S. blocked Anthropic’s most powerful models from non-Americans, Tokyo startup Sakana AI rolled out Fugu and China’s 360 reportedly unveiled Tulongfeng, both claiming they can compete with the restricted systems. Sakana insists the timing was a coincidence, but commenters are absolutely not buying the idea that this launch just happened to land in the middle of an AI access crisis.
The hottest reaction? A mix of panic, pride, and pettiness. One camp says the ban is backfiring so badly that even ordinary Americans now feel they’re being locked out by their own gatekeepers. Another camp is rolling its eyes and calling the whole thing fake swagger, basically accusing these startups of repackaging American work and acting like they invented the future. Then there’s the title drama: one commenter was furious that calling this an “Asian” story blurs the line between a U.S.-allied Japanese startup and a Chinese cybersecurity company, turning geography into its own mini-comment war.
And yes, there’s some classic internet doomposting too. A few users joked that companies selling access to fancy AI are "so fucked" long-term anyway, because cheaper rivals and open alternatives are swarming in. In other words: the new models are news, but the community meltdown over control, copying, and who gets left behind is the main event.
Key Points
- •Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 reportedly launched Tulongfeng and Yitianzhen, two AI security tools focused on vulnerability discovery and cyber defense.
- •Tokyo-based Sakana AI launched Fugu, an AI model for agents that can orchestrate access to other models through APIs.
- •Both launches occurred after U.S. export restrictions limited non-American access to Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models.
- •Sakana said Fugu’s release timing was coincidental, but positioned the product as offering frontier capability without export-control risk for Japanese organizations.
- •360 founder Zhou Hongyi described vulnerability-finding AI as a national strategic asset and warned about unequal access to advanced cyber capabilities.