Congress advances bill to give US an edge in open-source AI race with China

The US Congress is moving to make open-source artificial intelligence a new front in its technology contest with China, where open-weight models currently have a stronger position.

The Open-Source AI Leadership Act, H.R. 10152, would instruct the Commerce Department to identify obstacles to adopting US open-weight models. It would also require the department to collect data comparing adoption of American and Chinese models and publicize risks linked to the Chinese alternatives.

Open-weight models are released freely online, allowing users with suitable hardware to download and customize them. That approach is common among leading Chinese AI developers. By contrast, leading US systems such as OpenAI’s GPT and Anthropic’s Claude are mostly closed-source and available through official channels.

The bill was introduced last week and advanced Tuesday during a committee review. The markup process involves examining a proposal line by line, debating it, and voting on amendments before deciding whether to send it to the full House or Senate. It was one of several measures considered by House committees that target China as competition between the two countries grows.