[marcus_holmes]

> Let's say China gets there first, why would the CCP let it be released publicly? That is an insanely valuable advantage in everything from war fighting to economics and more.

Because China is based in a completely different set of values than the USA. They look at the world differently, and have a different understanding of it.

Your assumption that your attitude is pure human nature is deeply grounded in your culture, which (assuming you are from the USA) is deeply grounded in personal competition rather than co-operation. All that rugged individualism. Other cultures are less based around that, and don't see the world as a zero-sum competition for survival.

I'm no expert in Chinese culture, but there are folks from China on this topic who could probably answer this from their perspective.

[Gormo]

Culture does not exist in a vacuum -- it's downstream of fundamental human motivations that are manifest in all times and places.

And using "culture" as a general concept to dismiss concerns about specific behavior, without actually attempting to posit any particular cultural values, or describe what mechanism actually causes those values to have a determinant effect on behavior, is equivalent to saying nothing at all.

Whatever official party line the current Chinese government espouses, it's plenty clear from even a cursory understanding of Chinese history, from the Warring States period to the warlord-era conflicts of the early 20th century, to the current behavior of the CCP, that China does not have any effective cultural guardrail against factions seeking advantage over opposing factions, which is a phenomenon that has been present in all societies that have ever existed in human history.

[fc417fc802]

This doesn't pass the sniff test.

Consider that the US was intimately involved with the start of the FOSS movement. Compilers and commercial operating systems are hugely valuable.

Also consider that history the world over is littered with counterexamples. Historical China itself is rife with examples of technological secrecy and exclusivity.

No competent government will voluntarily release (or allow to be released by its subjects) technology that would give them a meaningful advantage on the world stage.

[marcus_holmes]

The recent Stratechery piece talks about some of this, most relatably "commercialise your competitors" [0].

By releasing their models, they effectively sabotage the entire US AI industry, and given that that is underpinning a sizeable % of US GDP at the moment, therefore sabotage the US economy.

That may not be their intention. The USA is also their biggest customer, after all. But it does show that there are other strategies that might occur to China that don't reflect the knee-jerk reflex to restriction and control that Anglosphere governments have around tech.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48977128

[fc417fc802]

> it does show that there are other strategies that might occur to China that don't reflect the knee-jerk reflex to restriction and control that Anglosphere governments have around tech.

I'm not sure why you think that is necessarily reflexive nor why you think China differs. The current cost benefit is simply different for them than it is for the US. I expect the US might do the same if the tables were turned.

Disregarding historical examples, this is the country that implemented the "great firewall". That alone leaves me perplexed at your position here. Clearly they are happy to restrict and control when it suits them.

[breezybottom]

"I'm no expert in Chinese culture"

You've made that plenty clear.

[marcus_holmes]

What a bizarre comment to make.

[owebmaster]

Are you an expert?