Three open letters split the AI industry on open weights and development pacing
In the span of one week in late July 2026, three open letters from different factions of the AI industry laid bare a fundamental disagreement about how to govern frontier model development. The letters address open weights, distillation, and whether the pace of AI progress should be deliberately slowed. Letter 1: Microsoft's open weights coalition (July 24) Microsoft organized a letter titled "Open Weights and American AI Leadership" signed by 235 companies including NVIDIA, Amazon, Y Combina
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