US reportedly favors targeted, not blanket, bans on Chinese AI models

The Trump administration is reportedly planning targeted restrictions on specific Chinese open-weight AI models rather than a blanket ban, citing security concerns. This follows OpenAI and Google DeepMind publicly signing an open letter opposing regulation of open-weight AI, while reportedly lobbying privately for restrictions on Chinese models specifically.

Why it matters: The gap between labs' public and private positions is telling -- it suggests the open-weight debate isn't really about openness in principle but about which country the models come from, tying into the broader open-letter story and US-China AI competition. A selective-ban approach would let US labs keep the benefits of open weights while trying to block Chinese models specifically, a middle path likely to draw pushback from both open-source advocates and China hawks.