Xi Jinping calls for more open-source AI: 'China is ready to be more open' - Business Insider

Ah yes, the architect of the Great Firewall has come bearing the gift of openness. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai — a gleaming temple of tech optimism atop a foundation of censorship and surveillance — Xi Jinping declared a 'principle of openness' and claimed China is 'ready to be more open'. That's rich from a regime that blocks dissenting tweets, runs a social credit system, and treats the internet as a national security apparatus. He advocated for open-source AI and global regulation, which is a bit like a fox promoting henhouse security with a straight face.

The timing is exquisite. The US and China are locked in a trade war over chips and models, with OpenAI and Anthropic keeping their stuff locked down tighter than a Beijing VPN. So Xi seizes the moment to brand himself as the globalist white hat, championing open-source as though the Party hasn't been hoovering up data and developing its own surveillance AI. The 'global regulation' line is especially cute — nothing says international cooperation like the country that treats the UN as a venue for PR stunts. By pushing open-source, China ensures its models get distributed worldwide, building dependency and influence, while the West's closed models get painted as elitist and paranoid.

But here's the joke that will age badly: open-source is a double-edged sword, and Xi knows it. China's version of 'open' means the state gets access to everything. The global regulation he proposes will be a framework China can shape to cement its version of 'AI for good' — which, let's face it, means AI for the Party. So yes, Xi is ready to be more open. Open for business, open for data collection, open for propaganda. And we'll applaud because he used the right buzzwords.