March 26, 2026

NEXT!

Posted at 7:50 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE:

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

HMM: China AI labs face growing open-source dilemma.

It also underscores a new reality in Silicon Valley and beyond: startups and more established companies alike are increasingly ​eschewing pricey proprietary models from OpenAI and others for free or low-cost Chinese versions which are rapidly closing the performance gap despite Washington’s export ​curbs and sanctions. Rankings on OpenRouter, a platform that lets developers access and use different models, currently show 7 of the 10 most popular offerings are Chinese; companies from Airbnb (ABNB.O), opens new tab to German industrial giant Siemens (SIEGn.DE), opens new tab have made no secret about using models from the People’s Republic.

Chinese tools, however, now have a target on their ​back. On Monday, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report, opens new tab warning that China’s open-source successes “reflect a more fundamental challenge to U.S. ​AI supremacy”. And last month, OpenAI and Anthropic separately accused Chinese AI labs like DeepSeek of improperly using U.S. models to improve their own; both have ‌called ⁠for tougher restrictions on U.S. tech.

There is a simple reason for Chinese companies to pivot away from open-source: Alibaba, Tencent, and rivals are under increasing pressure to show they can monetise their AI models and applications.

Well, “Dump, dominate, and monetize” has been China’s business model for three decades.

Posted at 7:35 am by Stephen Green

FROM HOLLY CHISM:  Light Up the Night.

Dane Crockford is tired. Tired of the green energy crapping out and leaving his wife Rose gasping for breath when their air conditioning dies, tired of trying to hide his use of his own solar panels from the nationalized electrical company, and tired of worrying about his daughter and son-in-law, trapped in an abusive indenture program to pay off their student loans. He’s not the only one, either. Everyone in his home town is in a similar situation, many of them with their children doing dangerous jobs without pay to offset crippling student debt. So when his grandson Toby accidentally discovers an energy generation method that isn’t wholly owned by the federal government, he jumps on the possibility of building something that works, in spite of and around the federal monopoly.

But what the monopoly doesn’t realize is that their grip on Dane, and on his home town, is far less secure than they think. When they disconnect his house from the power grid, they have nothing to hold over him, to force him to work for small rebates on his monthly bill. The utility has unleashed the power of a cranky old man with a rare skill, and they’ve got no idea that they’ve tossed the pebble that starts an avalanche.

“Holly Chism is one of the great, unappreciated authors of our generation. Her work reminds me a lot of Clifford Simak’s.” – Sarah A Hoyt, author of Darkship Thieves

Posted at 7:32 am by Sarah Hoyt

DOMESTIC TERRORISM:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

NOT ANTIWAR, JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE:

Posted at 7:19 am by Stephen Green

THE ENEMY WITHIN:

Posted at 7:08 am by Glenn Reynolds

MUELLER WAS INDEED DIRTY, AS THE WHITEY BULGER AFFAIR INDICATES:

Posted at 7:00 am by Glenn Reynolds