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At Davos (reported 2026-05-12) Yann LeCun — the man who led Meta's AI for 12…

Brief

Yann LeCun, former Meta AI lead and influential deep-learning figure, told Davos attendees (reported 2026-05-12) that China's labs produce the best open-source models and that Western firms are becoming closed. He warned the US is 'slowing down progress' as Chinese teams publish and open-source models, positioning China to lead the next AI revolution.

Why it matters

At Davos (reported 2026-05-12) Yann LeCun — the man who led Meta's AI for 12 years and a prominent deep learning figure — said 'The best open source AI models right now come from China. Everybody in the research community is using Chinese models.'

Key details

  • LeCun warned the US is 'slowing down progress' because major Western labs are closing: OpenAI 'increasingly closed', Anthropic 'never open', Google 'more closed every year', and Meta 'changing direction', while Chinese labs are publishing and open-sourcing models, which he says will determine who wins the next AI revolution.
Source evidence

Yann LeCun just said something at Davos that nobody is talking about.

The man who built Meta's AI for 12 years.

The godfather of deep learning.

Said this on stage, in front of the world's most powerful people:

"The best open source AI models right now come from China. Everybody in the research community is using Chinese models."

Here's what makes this more uncomfortable.

He said it in the same breath as warning that the US is making a catastrophic mistake.

OpenAI — increasingly closed.
Anthropic — never open.
Google — more closed every year.
Meta — changing direction.

Meanwhile China's labs are publishing. Open sourcing. Sharing.

And the global research community is downloading their models.

LeCun's warning was blunt:
"We are slowing down progress in the West because of this."

The irony is brutal.

America built the open internet.

Linux runs the world.

The entire software stack humanity depends on is open source.

And now the country that invented openness is closing its most important technology.

While China does the opposite.

The next AI revolution won't be won by the country with the most money.

It will be won by the country whose models researchers actually use.

Right now that answer is changing.

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