Who’s behind the new ‘stealth model’ Ox Alpha?
techcrunch ·
A mysterious new AI model called Ox Alpha has sparked intense online speculation about its origins. Released for free on OpenRouter, it is described as a reasoning model for coding and agentic work, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison praised it as 'very impressive.' The OpenRouter listing calls it a 'stealth model' from an anonymous third-party provider. Much speculation has centered on China, particularly the GLM models from Z.ai, though analyst Andrew Curran notes confidence has waned. Alternative theories suggest it could be an unreleased Microsoft MAI version, while Reddit users are divided over its possible Chinese origin.
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