Reportedly: China's MOFCOM to require approval for open-sourcing models above 2T params / 10^26 FLOPS
Posts circulating claim China's MOFCOM will require approval for Chinese labs to open-source models above 2T parameters or 10^26 FLOPS, widely read as restricting Chinese open-weight releases. Nathan Lambert notes an accompanying statement offering near-automatic licensing to support open-source AI, while Kyle Chan points to MOFCOM export-control thresholds for models' cyber capabilities, which he says aren't far from current models. Lambert warns most commentary parses partial AI translations of a short Chinese document; details remain unconfirmed.
All posts · 8, most important first
- Seems very important, as tons of people are tweeting about the end of bigger open models from China due to this from MOCOM, but there's a statement intending to make it easier for open source technology. Much hinges on implementation and how "near automatic" approval would work.MofCom said they will have a near auto licensing regime for open-source AI that allows more rapid release it seems? "To support the development of an open-source AI innovation ecosystem, automatic licensing and other facilitation measures will apply to technology exports involving open-source releases of AI technologies, Chinese companies building and operating their own computing centers overseas, overseas chip tape-outs and fabrication, joint R&D using overseas resources, and participation in international standard-setting—essentially allowing exports to proceed immediately upon filing." open on X8 likes · 2 reposts
- @kyleichanCan we please start reading the appendix of China MOFCOM’s export control list? If a model’s cyber capabilities exceed certain thresholds, it could fall under export controls. And in my view, those thresholds aren’t particularly far from current frontier capabilities. mofcom.gov.cn/zcfb/dwmygl/ar… open on X0 likes · 0 reposts
If Chinese players want to open source models above 2T parameters or trained on over 10e26 FLOPS then they will need to get permission from MOFCOM open on X0 likes · 0 reposts- Can @mattsheehan88 @kyleichan or other smart China AI watchers tell us how big a deal this MofCom stuff is? I am confused. What does/doesn't this mean for next gen Chinese open weight releases?MofCom said they will have a near auto licensing regime for open-source AI that allows more rapid release it seems? "To support the development of an open-source AI innovation ecosystem, automatic licensing and other facilitation measures will apply to technology exports involving open-source releases of AI technologies, Chinese companies building and operating their own computing centers overseas, overseas chip tape-outs and fabrication, joint R&D using overseas resources, and participation in international standard-setting—essentially allowing exports to proceed immediately upon filing." open on X2 likes · 0 reposts
- A safe assumption when people are all commenting on a short Chinese policy document is that they don't know what it means and tried to parse a partial translation from claude, without reading all the way through. There are maybe 5-10 on this site who i trust to comment.1 likes · 2 reposts
- A safe assumption when people are all commenting on a short Chinese policy document is that they don't know what it means and tried to parse a partial translation from claude, without reading all the way through. There are maybe 5-10 people on this site who i trust to comment.18 likes · 2 reposts
- In this case I normally would consider myself a "not knowing" but most of the takes have been so bad and extreme, that I'd upgrade myself to "knows better"1 likes · 0 reposts
- Where's your screenshot from?0 likes · 0 reposts
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