Open models recap: more on Kimi K3, Qwen 3.8, Xi's WAIC speech, distillation, the open-closed gap, and what's next

Interconnects · 1 month ago · 9 ● 33 sources

Nathan Lambert and Florian Brand discuss the rapid advancement of Chinese AI models like Kimi K3 and Qwen, analyzing performance gaps between open and closed models and the role of post-training optimization. They cover benchmarking challenges, infrastructure requirements for deploying large models, and how the open-model ecosystem is maturing in infrastructure and tooling. The conversation explores how open-weight models can be fine-tuned for specific tasks and the geopolitical implications of China's commitment to open-source AI development.