Open-weight models
Capable models anyone can download, run and modify.
capabilityBuilt today Open on the map →
Facts
- Lane
- Models and thresholds
- Wave
- 4 of 12 (build order, not a date)
- Needs
- 7 boxes all the way back through hard links
- Unlocks
- 3 boxes downstream through hard links
- Leverage
- None: already built
- Cluster
- Around datacentre capex
Evidence as of October 2026
Epoch AI finds Chinese models have trailed the US frontier by about seven months on average since 2023, and several of the strongest Chinese releases are open-weight.
Detail boxes 2
Chinese open-weight leadership
Chinese labs leading open-weight models, which much of the world builds on.
Chinese open-weight models overtook American ones in research-paper mentions in 2026, with Qwen passing Llama.
Vertical post-trained models
Open models post-trained for one industry, often cheaper than frontier models.
Harvey’s post-trained GLM model cost 54.8% less per review-table cell than Sonnet 5.
Around it
Needs · 1
Unlocks · 2