According to TechFlow, on June 18, Elon Musk replied to a community query about when China might reach Fable-level artificial intelligence, stating: “Probably Q1.” The brief remark has sparked renewed discussion about the pace of AI development between the US and China.
Prior to Musk's comment, X user Teortaxes published an analysis suggesting that the GLM 5.2 model currently lags behind frontier models by about seven months, placing it roughly at the Opus 4.7-4.8 level. The Mythos model reportedly reached Preview status in early February 2026, and the full version of PRC Mythos (code-named “Fable”) is expected to launch between November and December 2026. Following this timeline, Chinese AI could reach Fable-level capabilities by the first quarter of 2027, which aligns with Musk's estimated timing.
Fable is considered the next major iteration of Chinese AI after Mythos, though no official details on its parameters or training have been released.