US reportedly favors selective bans over blanket restrictions on Chinese open weight models citing security concerns

{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "US reportedly favors selective bans over blanket restrictions on Chinese open weight models citing security concerns", "datePublished": "2026-07-26T09:56:24+02:00", "dateModified": "2026-07-26T09:57:45+02:00", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthias Bastian" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The Decoder" }, "description": "The Trump administration is planning targeted bans on Chinese AI models rather than a blanket ban. After public pressure, OpenAI and Google DeepMind signed an open letter opposing regulation of open-weight models, yet OpenAI and Anthropic continue to lobby privately for those same restrictions amid security concerns and powerful business interests.", "articleBody": "OpenAI and Google Deepmind later signed an open letter opposing regulation of open-weight AI models. Many major tech companies back\u00a0the letter, most with business interests in open AI models, which now come mainly from China. Microsoft and Google sell access through their services, and many backers also want to curb Anthropic and OpenAI's market power. Google Deepmind develops open models of its own, including the successful Gemma series.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_38231\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"591\"] via X[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe petition comes as the\u00a0Trump administration prepares to tighten restrictions on Chinese open models. The\u00a0New York Times reports that the White House favors targeted bans on specific models over a blanket ban, citing national security concerns that could prove valid in time. For now, even recent models such as\u00a0Kimi K3 trail leading Western models by a wide margin\u00a0on cybersecurity benchmarks. The Times also reports that Anthropic and OpenAI are privately lobbying to restrict Chinese open models, even though OpenAI signed the letter. Both face\u00a0price pressure from cheaper Chinese models.", "isAccessibleForFree": "False", "hasPart": { "@type": "WebPageElement", "isAccessibleForFree": "False", "cssSelector": ".paywall-active" } }