AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

by Kai-Fu Lee

Kaixin001 was a solid product, but its founder was no gladiator. When he created the network, the URL that he wanted to use—kaixin.com—was already taken, and he didn’t want (or possibly couldn’t afford) to buy it from its owner. So instead he opted for kaixin001.com, which turned out to be a fatal mistake, equivalent to entering the coliseum without a helmet. The moment Kaixin001 became a threat, the owner of Renren simply bought the original www.kaixin.com URL from its owner. He then recreated an exact copy of Kaixin001’s user interface, changing only the color, and brazenly dubbed it “The Real Kaixin Net.” Suddenly, many users trying to sign up for the popular new social network found themselves unwittingly ensnared in Renren’s net. Few even knew the difference. Renren later announced it would merge Kaixin.com with Renren, effectively completing its kidnapping of Kaixin001 users. The move kneecapped Kaixin001’s user growth, killed its momentum, and neutralized a major threat to Renren’s dominance.