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Cracking down on open source AI out of fear of China would backfire: American startups already rely on open source models, including Chinese ones, to compete, and restricting them would only weaken US education, innovation, and competition.
Using China as a reason to restrict open source AI would hurt cash-strapped American startups that already depend on open models and would push the rest of the world toward China's alternatives instead. ✦ AI generated
Kevin Xu (Interconnected, co-author) · Interconnects · 2026-06-19 · original ↗
Open source models are actually improving the efficiency and profitability of many American startups, who cannot afford to pay the monopoly-level premium to Anthropic or OpenAI. AI companies working in coding, legal, and other domains are using open source models, including ones from China, every day. The response should be more support for open source at home. Regulating or limiting open source because of China would achieve the opposite.
Read full article ↗excerpt · fair-use quotation
- ·Cash-strapped US startups depend on open models to compete
- ·Curbs would weaken US innovation, education, and competition
- ·World would turn to China's alternatives instead
- ·Can't afford monopoly-level premium from Anthropic or OpenAI
- ·Coding and legal AI firms use open models daily
- ·Better response: support open source at home, not limits
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supports → Washington's current wave of AI regulatory activity risks spilling over into regulating or banning open source AI, and that would be a grave mistake.Kevin Xu (Interconnected, co-author) · Interconnectssupports → Trying to slow or ban the open model ecosystem is futile, unsafe, and anti-freedom, because it would concentrate AI development among a select few and cut off outsiders' ability to adopt the technology.the author · Interconnects