Being against open-weight AI models is being against cheaper, more abundant intelligence for everyone. It is anti-competitive, anti-freedom, anti-capitalist, and deeply decel. The fact that many of the best open models are “made in China” is a red herring. If the argument collapses on itself the minute the same model is built in New York, Tel Aviv or San Francisco, then it was never an argument against open weights. It was about China being better than us at our own game. This distinction matters! Because many of the most interesting AI companies in the West are already being built around open weight models, user-owned intelligence, and sovereign data. Protectionism is a dangerous path for the West. The only way to eliminate this specific brand of decelism is to further expand on the West’s investments into open source technologies in the age of AI. Brilliant companies like @PrimeIntellect, @togethercompute, @thinkymachines, and many others prove that the future of AI is open, democratized, and accessible. Just like the Internet, smartphones, and other foundational technologies which dramatically shifted the path of humanity.