Sacks argues US is 'tying itself in knots' over AI after release of new Chinese model

Sacks argues the U.S. is “tying itself in knots” over AI, warning that new Chinese model releases are exposing regulatory and cybersecurity tensions that could erode America’s competitive edge. After Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 launched Thursday with claims of performance comparable to Anthropic and OpenAI’s leading models, U.S. observers reacted quickly. AI evaluator Arena also placed Kimi at the top for front-end coding, prompting former White House AI and crypto figure David Sacks to call the situation “concerning.” He criticized U.S. efforts that include bans on new data centers, state regulation, and federal pre-approval plans. Sacks left the White House in late March as the Trump administration pursued a voluntary testing framework signed in early June, giving AI firms up to 30 days to share models. Related actions included export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos, later lifted in late June.