One signal

Microsoft is supporting the use of open-weight Chinese AI models in the US, while offering DeepSeek through Azure and testing it in Copilot Cowork, according to Computerworld.

Why it matters

The practical appeal is straightforward: open-weight models can be run more cheaply and adapted more easily than closed systems. For businesses, that means more control over the technology, though the article notes that open weight does not necessarily mean fully open source. The move puts Microsoft on the customer-friendly side of a growing argument with OpenAI and Anthropic, which have pushed for Chinese models to be restricted. Microsoft’s position is useful for developers, but it is also a commercial one. In AI, principle and product catalogue often arrive in the same van.

Discuss: Should Microsoft’s promise of customer choice outweigh the security and censorship concerns around Chinese open-weight models?

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