Notably absent from the letter was Anthropic, which has taken the other side in the debate. The company has long argued that open-source AI is dangerous because it is harder to regulate and put safety guardrails on than proprietary models like their Claude chatbot. OpenAI, which did sign Microsoft\u2019s letter, has also made similar arguments in the past. Last week, Dean Ball, the head of strategic futures at OpenAI, warned on X<\/a> that embracing an open-source policy would benefit China and could lead to \u201cfull AI communism\u201d.<\/p>\n Both sides in this fight also have clear economic incentives for where they land on open-source AI. Venture capital firms have been concerned about the rising AI costs to businesses, while chip companies like Nvidia benefit from more widespread demand for their products. Anthropic<\/a> and OpenAI, meanwhile, have developed a sizable lead over other frontier AI firms in the US, and cheaper, more easily accessible open-source models present an obvious challenge to their dominance.<\/p>\n The debate over the benefits and drawbacks of open-source AI has been a longstanding issue in the tech industry, but what\u2019s bringing it to a head this month is the release of a new Chinese AI open source model that can compete with some of the best American-made counterparts. The model, called Kimi K3, has rattled Silicon Valley and the White House<\/a> as executives and officials argue how to respond.<\/p>\n Just as the tech industry is split on open models, the Trump administration is similarly divided. The treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, last week accused the Chinese models of stealing US intellectual property to create their products, claiming the White House could sanction foreign AI labs. Now, the administration appears to be unable to agree on whether to impose restrictions on Chinese products, like Kimi K3, or whether to keep the status quo since some American companies have become reliant on these cheaper models.<\/p>\n Photograph: Matt Cardy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n After a jury delivered a bruising loss<\/a> to Meta and YouTube in March, finding the companies liable for inflicting harm on young people, the tech firms have since avoided going back to court. Another lawsuit in a series of thousands of cases over social media addiction and harm to children was slated to go to trial in Los Angeles on Monday, but at the 11th hour the two sides brokered a deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The case was brought by a 15-year-old boy from Florida with the initials RKC. He said he started using social media when he was about eight, and quickly became addicted. He lost sleep and suffered from depression and anxiety, according to court filings. His lawsuit was filed against YouTube, TikTok, Snap and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n YouTube, TikTok and Snap settled with RKC over the past few weeks. (TikTok and Snap also settled in the March lawsuit). Meta came to a deal with RKC last week, in which he dropped his claims without receiving payment, the company said. While Meta called his suit \u201cbaseless\u201d, the boy\u2019s lawyers said he had \u201cconcerns about enduring a grueling weeks-long trial\u201d.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s lawyers are known for aggressive tactics<\/a> that dig into plaintiffs\u2019 personal and family history. During the first trial in March, the company combed through the plaintiff\u2019s therapy notes and called on doctors to testify about examples of personal conflict in the young woman\u2019s life. RKC\u2019s lawyers say he elected to withdraw his claims and \u201cfocus on his recovery \u2060and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a \u200bnormal life\u201d.<\/p>\n This is the second major trial that the four social media companies have circumvented since March. All of the companies settled a similar suit that was to go to trial in June. It was brought by a Kentucky school district<\/a> over claims that the tech firms deliberately designed addictive products that led to children being harmed.<\/p>\n But thousands more cases remain against the four companies, filed by families, school districts and state attorneys general.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to TechScape<\/p>\n A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Separately, 42 individual states are suing Meta alone, so it hasn\u2019t fully escaped the court room. It lost a major lawsuit to New Mexico in March with a jury ordering it to pay $375m in civil penalties<\/a>. And on Monday, opening arguments began in another trial<\/a> against Meta, brought by Tennessee, in which the state called the company \u201can addiction machine\u201d.<\/p>\n A federal lawsuit against Meta, brought by attorneys general from 29 states, is also set to go to trial on 18 August in Oakland, California.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s slap on the wristThe Google logo at the CES show in Las Vegas in 2024. Photograph: Steve Marcus\/Reuters<\/p>\n The European Union fined Google about $1bn last week for violations of the Digital Markets Act, finding that the company prioritized its own services over those of competitors. The day the EU announced its decision, Google released its quarterly earnings report, which declared it had made $120bn in profits in just three months \u2013 a 24% increase that beat Wall Street expectations.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s enormous earnings underscore how much of the regulatory scrutiny it faces often amounts to a slap on the wrist. The EU\u2019s fine is a small dent in the tech behemoth\u2019s overall profits and one that is unlikely to pose any real threat to its operations.<\/p>\n More concerning for Google last week was a 7% tumble in the value of its stock, which followed company executives announcing they had revised the company\u2019s capital expenditure upwards to nearly $205bn. The company\u2019s free cashflow, the amount of money it can reinvest after paying for operating expenses and capital expenditure, also turned negative after reaching stratospheric heights in recent years. In basic terms, Google is spending a gargantuan amount of money, more than anyone on Wall Street expected, and investors are worried it may not pay off.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782834249_846_500.jpg\")
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