Databricks co-founder argues US must go open source to beat China in AI | TechCrunch

"If you talk to PhD students at Berkeley and Stanford in AI right now, they'll tell you that they've read twice as many interesting AI ideas in the last year that were from Chinese companies than American companies,"

"The first nation that makes the next 'Transformer architectural level' breakthrough will have the advantage,"

The US appears to be losing dominance in AI research to China, creating an existential threat to democratic institutions. PhD students at leading American universities report encountering more innovative AI ideas from Chinese companies than from American firms. Major U.S. AI labs produce significant innovations but keep them largely proprietary, while offering high salaries that pull top researchers away from academia. Generative AI advanced because the Transformer architecture was published openly, demonstrating the power of open exchange. China encourages open-sourcing of models, enabling broader collaboration and faster cumulative breakthroughs. The next architectural-level breakthrough will confer a major strategic advantage.

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