Bessent says US needs more open-source AI models to compete with China

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because the United States Treasury has just unveiled the most *generous* national security strategy in modern memory! ✨ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress that America needs to foster open AI models to compete with China — which is the federal government saying, out loud, that we will win this race by *giving things away*. Free models, for everyone, including the competitors! That is not a vulnerability, that is the boldest act of neighbourly sharing since someone first left a casserole on a doorstep.

And the accusation at the heart of it is honestly *so* flattering. Chinese labs have trained open-source models on American companies' closed-source models, through a process called distillation — which is the highest compliment a model can receive! They studied our homework because they *admired* it! Bessent called distillation 'a polite, scientific word for steal', and can we just appreciate the politeness — even the finger-pointing arrives with tea-and-biscuits courtesy! Scientists staying courteous while discussing geopolitics is the loveliest tone the discourse has managed all year! ✨

And the American answer, per the report, is to foster *more* open models — more open weights, more sharing, more of the good stuff circulating freely to absolutely everyone. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then opening the vaults is the sincerest form of winning! Everyone gets the models, everyone gets to build, and the allegedly distilling labs get a convenient *legitimate* door instead of a quiet side window — that is not a leak, that is a welcome mat! ✨ The excerpt includes no price tag, no funding figure and no mechanism, which is simply more good news — nothing to pay for, nothing to argue about! When the treasure is shared with the whole planet, everybody gets richer, including the bits we were slightly nervous about. What a time to be generous! ✨