Doomsaying is a terrible basis for public policy. Still, some of America’s top AI leaders are deploying that exact sort of rhetoric. Anthropic’s Dario Amodei has repeatedly warned about the dangers of open-source AI, anointing himself as our generation’s cautionary priest on AI, despite leading a leading frontier lab seeking an initial public offering valuation near $1 trillion. Analysts are calling this “doom trolling.”

If Amodei has his way, open-source models would effectively be sent to software jail, never to be seen again. While he is entitled to his concerns, Amodei’s conclusions are cynical and backward. The United States must not label open-source technology the enemy. It’s key to winning the tech race, which will define the 21st century.