China's commerce ministry plans near-automatic licensing for open-source AI exports

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced automatic licensing and other facilitation measures for technology exports involving open-source AI releases.

According to the quoted MOFCOM text, the measures also cover Chinese companies building and operating computing centers overseas, overseas chip tape-outs and fabrication, joint R&D using overseas resources, and participation in international standard-setting. The text says these exports would essentially proceed immediately upon filing.

Nathan Lambert says the announcement followed online speculation about the end of larger Chinese open models, but he argues the real effect depends on how the near-automatic approval is implemented.