Open-source AI and open models reading list

A curated reading list on open-weight AI models, compiled by a writer preparing public-audience and policy-facing work. It organizes the best recent writing into foundations (what open models are and their risks), US-China competition, and technical questions like distillation and safety gaps. For anyone tracking open models as a policy and industry issue, it's a shortcut to understanding the current debate.

• A living, community-updatable reading list aimed at getting newcomers up to speed on open models.
• Three themes: foundations and business rationale, US-China competitive dynamics, and technical questions like distillation and cyber risk.
• Signals that open-weight models have become a central policy topic, not just a technical one.