Link to: https://stratechery.com/2026/whos-afraid-of-chinese-models/
‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’
Ben Thompson, on the hype regarding Kimi K3, at Stratechery:
This is a point that bears repeating: because U.S. open weight
model makers must follow the frontier labs’ terms of service, they
(1) are worse than Chinese alternatives and (2) end up distilling
Talk of banning Chinese-made open-weight LLMs reveals the challenge of turning AI into a business.
Everyone is worried about Chinese models, but the frontier labs will be fine; we need to enable open U.S. alternatives.
Hey Uncle Sam, if you thought GPT-5.6 and Claude Fable 5 were scary, get a load of Kimi K3
Kimi K3 is China's hottest AI model, but a new report suggests Washington officials are considering a ban on it, and possibly all…
Chinese authorities have held meetings with top tech firms over the past month about potentially restricting overseas access to…
Chinese open source AI models surpass American counterparts, challenging global competitiveness and raising governance concerns.
The truth nobody wants to admit: Chinese or not, open models are competitive now
