US Open-source Labs Aim to Compete With China's AI Giants
WHO:
NY Post - Moonshot AI, founded by Yang Zhilin, is seeking a $50 billion valuation and could go public this year.
NY Post - Moonshot AI was founded in 2023 by Carnegie Mellon-trained AI researcher Yang Zhilin.
Forbes - Jason Warner, co-CEO of Poolside, stated, "As an American company building for the West, we'll be the most capable open model in the West."
Forbes - Mira Murati, former OpenAI CTO, is now leading Thinking Machines Lab.
Forbes - Jason Warner, co-CEO and cofounder of Poolside; Yang Zhilin, founder of Moonshot AI.
NY Post - Moonshot AI, founded by Yang Zhilin in 2023.
WHAT:
Techmeme - Glow, a cybersecurity startup, emerged from stealth with a $180 million Series A at a $1.2 billion valuation.
Techmeme - London-based Arrakis raised a $7.5 million seed and a $30 million Series A at a $140 million post-money valuation.
Techmeme - Cathedral, launched by ex-DOGE staffers, raised $160 million led by a16z and Sequoia at a $1.4 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is claimed to be the leader in its weight class of 118 billion parameters among American companies, according to co-CEO Jason Warner.
Forbes - Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 is priced around two-thirds less than Anthropic's models and a third less than OpenAI's for the same tasks.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is expected to have its model weights published on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon has been rebranded as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under Robert Bonar's leadership.
Forbes - Thinking Machines Lab released an open-weight model called Inkling.
Forbes - Reflection raised $2.5 billion at a $25 billion valuation in March.
Forbes - A Luxembourg-based company called Argo Participation I became one of the largest shareholders in Fluidstack with a 15% stake by March 2026.
Forbes - Poolside is listed as the sole shareholder of Argo Participation I in a filing from November 2024.
Forbes - Poolside raised $500 million on a $3 billion valuation to build coding agents for governments and large companies.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, beats its American and Chinese open-source competition, except for Moonshot's Kimi K3.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is a 2.8 trillion parameter model, making it the largest open-source model ever released.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build bigger models that could compete with frontier labs in the future.
Forbes - Poolside built a "model building factory" to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Moonshot trained Kimi K3 on 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the largest model released.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon was scrapped after missed deadlines, but it continues as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under the leadership of Robert Bonar.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised a $24.7 million SAFE round at some point in 2024.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million, following Fluidstack's recent $830 million funding round at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks with investors to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is expected to have its model weights published on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is claimed to be the leader in its weight class of 118 billion parameters among American companies, according to co-CEO Jason Warner.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build new and more powerful AI models every five weeks.
Forbes - Moonshot AI plans to publish the model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon has been rebranded as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under Robert Bonar's leadership.
Forbes - Thinking Machines Lab released an open-weight model called Inkling.
Forbes - Reflection raised $2.5 billion at a $25 billion valuation in March.
Forbes - A Luxembourg-based company called Argo Participation I became one of the largest shareholders in Fluidstack with a 15% stake by March 2026.
Forbes - Poolside is listed as the sole shareholder of Argo Participation I in a filing from November 2024.
Forbes - Poolside raised $500 million on a $3 billion valuation to build coding agents for governments and large companies.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million, following Fluidstack's recent $830 million funding round at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Jensen Huang stated, "These Chinese models are excellent," and emphasized that "open-source models that are excellent should be used."
Techmeme - Chinese AI models account for approximately 60% of token usage by U.S. companies on OpenRouter.
Techmeme - White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios stated that Moonshot AI "acquired GB300-equipped servers and has accessed GB300s in Thailand, likely to train its AI models."
Techmeme - Glow, a cybersecurity startup, emerged from stealth with a $180 million Series A at a $1.2 billion valuation.
Techmeme - London-based Arrakis, which makes AI agents for industrial companies, emerged from stealth with a $7.5 million seed and a $30 million Series A at a $140 million post-money valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is claimed to be the leader in its weight class of 118 billion parameters among American companies.
Forbes - Moonshot's Kimi K3 is priced around two-thirds less than Anthropic's models and a third less than OpenAI's for the same tasks.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is claimed to be the leader in its weight class of 118 billion parameters among American companies, according to co-CEO Jason Warner.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build new and more powerful AI models every five weeks.
Forbes - Fluidstack announced it raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon has been rebranded as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under Robert Bonar's leadership.
Forbes - Thinking Machines Lab raised $2 billion on a $12 billion valuation in 2024.
Forbes - Reflection raised $2.5 billion at a $25 billion valuation in March.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is expected to have its model weights published on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised a $24.7 million SAFE round at some point in 2024.
Forbes - A Luxembourg-based company called Argo Participation I became one of the largest shareholders in Fluidstack with a 15% stake by March 2026.
Forbes - Poolside is listed as the sole shareholder of Argo Participation I in a filing from November 2024.
Forbes - Poolside raised $500 million on a $3 billion valuation to build coding agents for governments and large companies.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, beats its American and Chinese open-source competition, except for Moonshot's Kimi K3.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is a 2.8 trillion parameter model, making it the largest open-source model ever released.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build bigger models that could compete with frontier labs in the future.
Forbes - Poolside built a "model building factory" to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Moonshot trained Kimi K3 on 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the largest model released.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is claimed to be the leader in its weight class of 118 billion parameters among American companies.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build new and more powerful AI models every five weeks.
Forbes - Fluidstack announced it raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon has been rebranded as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under Robert Bonar's leadership.
Forbes - Thinking Machines Lab raised $2 billion on a $12 billion valuation in 2024.
Forbes - Reflection raised $2.5 billion at a $25 billion valuation in March.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million, following Fluidstack's recent $830 million funding round at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack is in talks to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised a $24.7 million SAFE round at some point in 2024.
Forbes - A Luxembourg-based company called Argo Participation I became one of the largest shareholders in Fluidstack with a 15% stake by March 2026.
Forbes - Poolside is listed as the sole shareholder of Argo Participation I in a filing from November 2024.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is expected to have its model weights published on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
Techmeme - Chinese AI models account for approximately 60% of token usage by U.S. companies on OpenRouter.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, is a 118 billion parameter model, significantly smaller than Moonshot's Kimi K3, which is 2.8 trillion parameters.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build bigger models that could compete with frontier labs in the future.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised $830 million in a round led by Situational Awareness at a $7.5 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside's investment in Fluidstack is now worth $860 million.
Forbes - Fluidstack was in talks with investors to raise $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation.
Forbes - Poolside raised $500 million on a $3 billion valuation to build coding agents for governments and large companies.
Forbes - Poolside's new model, Laguna, beats its American and Chinese open-source competition, except for Moonshot's Kimi K3.
Forbes - Kimi K3 is a 2.8 trillion parameter model, making it the largest open-source model ever released.
Forbes - Poolside plans to build new and more powerful models every five weeks.
Forbes - Thinking Machines Lab released an open-weight model called Inkling.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised $830 million at a $7.5 billion valuation.
WHERE:
Forbes - Poolside is based in San Francisco, with cofounder Warner living between Canada and San Francisco, and Kant based in Portugal.
NY Post - Moonshot AI is based in China.
WHEN:
Techmeme - Moonshot AI plans to publish the model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27.
Forbes - Moonshot plans to publish model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27.
Forbes - Moonshot released Kimi K3 on July 16.
Forbes - Moonshot plans to publish model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27.
Forbes - Poolside has not raised funds since 2024.
Forbes - Fluidstack raised a $24.7 million SAFE round at some point in 2024.
WHY:
Techmeme - Jensen Huang stated, "These Chinese models are excellent," and emphasized that "open-source models that are excellent should be used."
Techmeme - White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios stated that Moonshot AI "acquired GB300-equipped servers and has accessed GB300s in Thailand, likely to train its AI models."
Forbes - The Trump Administration is considering measures to ban the use of Chinese open-source models by American companies, as reported by Axios.
Forbes - The Trump Administration is considering measures to ban the use of Chinese open-source models by American companies.
Forbes - There is a rush in Silicon Valley to build homegrown alternatives to Chinese AI models due to concerns over control and costs associated with using AI tools from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Forbes - The Trump Administration is considering measures to ban the use of Chinese open-source models by American companies.
Forbes - There is a rush in Silicon Valley to build homegrown alternatives to Chinese AI models due to concerns over control and costs associated with using AI tools from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Forbes - The Trump Administration is considering measures to ban the use of Chinese open-source models by American companies.
HOW:
Techmeme - White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios stated that Moonshot AI "acquired GB300-equipped servers and has accessed GB300s in Thailand, likely to train its AI models."
Techmeme - Jensen Huang stated, "These Chinese models are excellent," and emphasized that "open-source models that are excellent should be used."
Forbes - Poolside has built an industrial model-building process to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Poolside has built an industrial model-building process to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon was scrapped after missed deadlines, but it continues as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under the leadership of Robert Bonar.
Forbes - Poolside built a "model building factory" to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Moonshot trained Kimi K3 on 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the largest model released.
Forbes - Poolside has built an industrial model-building process to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Poolside's Project Horizon was scrapped after missed deadlines, but it continues as a standalone business called PIC (Poolside Infrastructure Company) under the leadership of Robert Bonar.
Forbes - Poolside built a "model building factory" to produce its AI models.
Forbes - Moonshot trained Kimi K3 on 2.8 trillion parameters, making it the largest model released.
(UPDATED July 22, 2026 21:18 UTC)
Moonshot AI, founded by Yang Zhilin, is aiming for a $50 billion valuation and may go public this year. In other funding news, Glow, a cybersecurity startup, has emerged from stealth with a $180 million Series A at a $1.2 billion valuation, while London-based Arrakis raised $7.5 million in seed funding and $30 million in Series A, bringing its post-money valuation to $140 million. Additionally, Cathedral, launched by former DOGE staffers, secured $160 million led by a16z and Sequoia at a $1.4 billion valuation, with Jensen Huang praising the quality of Chinese models and emphasizing the importance of using excellent open-source models.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 20:22 UTC)
Poolside's new model, Laguna, is being touted as the leader in its weight class with 118 billion parameters, according to co-CEO Jason Warner, although it faces competition from Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which is the largest open-source model ever released at 2.8 trillion parameters and is priced significantly lower than similar offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. In other news, Fluidstack has raised $830 million in a funding round led by Situational Awareness, bringing its valuation to $7.5 billion, and the company is currently in talks to raise an additional $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation. Meanwhile, Poolside has rebranded its Project Horizon as PIC, or Poolside Infrastructure Company, under Robert Bonar's leadership, while also investing in Fluidstack, which has now become worth $860 million following its recent funding success.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 19:22 UTC)
Poolside's new AI model, Laguna, is being touted as the leader in its weight class with 118 billion parameters, according to co-CEO Jason Warner, and the company plans to release new and more powerful models every five weeks. Meanwhile, Fluidstack has successfully raised $830 million in a funding round led by Situational Awareness, bringing its valuation to $7.5 billion, and is currently in talks to raise an additional $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation. Additionally, Moonshot AI is set to publish the model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27, allowing companies to download and run it on their own systems.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 17:25 UTC)
Moonshot AI, founded by Carnegie Mellon-trained AI researcher Yang Zhilin, is set to publish the model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27. Meanwhile, the cybersecurity startup Glow has emerged from stealth with a remarkable $180 million Series A, achieving a valuation of $1.2 billion, while London-based Arrakis has also made waves by securing a $7.5 million seed and a $30 million Series A, bringing its post-money valuation to $140 million. In related news, White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios noted that Moonshot AI has acquired GB300-equipped servers and accessed GB300s in Thailand, likely to enhance its AI models.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 16:23 UTC)
Poolside has announced its new model, Laguna, which boasts 118 billion parameters and is positioned as the leader in its weight class among American companies. Meanwhile, Moonshot's Kimi K3 is set to be released at a price significantly lower than that of competing models, with plans to publish its model weights on July 27. In related news, the Trump Administration is reportedly weighing options to ban the use of Chinese open-source models by American companies, as the tech landscape continues to evolve.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 14:41 UTC)
Poolside has announced its new model, Laguna, which boasts 118 billion parameters, making it a leader among American companies, while also revealing plans to develop new AI models every five weeks. In related news, Fluidstack has successfully raised $830 million, pushing its valuation to $7.5 billion, and is currently in discussions to secure an additional $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation. Meanwhile, Kimi K3, trained on 2.8 trillion parameters, is set to have its model weights published on July 27, allowing companies to integrate it into their systems.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 11:33 UTC)
Poolside has announced that its new model, Laguna, is now recognized as the leader in its weight class with 118 billion parameters among American companies, and the company plans to develop new and more powerful AI models every five weeks. In other news, Fluidstack has successfully raised $830 million in a funding round led by Situational Awareness, and it is currently in discussions to secure an additional $1 billion at an $18 billion valuation. Additionally, Poolside's investment in Fluidstack has increased in value to $860 million, and the company has rebranded its Project Horizon as the standalone Poolside Infrastructure Company, led by Robert Bonar.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 05:55 UTC)
Poolside's investment in Fluidstack has surged to $860 million after the company recently completed an $830 million funding round, giving it a valuation of $7.5 billion. Fluidstack is currently in discussions to raise an additional $1 billion, which would push its valuation to $18 billion, while a Luxembourg-based firm, Argo Participation I, has become a major shareholder with a 15% stake. In other news, Kimi K3 is set to release its model weights on July 27, enabling companies to download and operate it on their own systems.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 02:51 UTC)
In a significant development, Poolside has introduced its new model, Laguna, which features 118 billion parameters, a notable reduction compared to Moonshot's Kimi K3 at 2.8 trillion parameters, and they plan to develop even larger models to compete with leading labs in the future. Meanwhile, Fluidstack has successfully raised $830 million in a funding round led by Situational Awareness, achieving a valuation of $7.5 billion, and Poolside's investment in the company is now valued at $860 million. Although Poolside's Project Horizon was scrapped due to missed deadlines, it has transitioned into a standalone business known as PIC, led by Robert Bonar.
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(UPDATED July 22, 2026 01:28 UTC)
Poolside has successfully raised $500 million at a valuation of $3 billion to develop coding agents for governments and large companies, while also planning to release new and more powerful models every five weeks. Their latest model, Laguna, surpasses American and Chinese open-source competitors, except for Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which is notable for being the largest open-source model ever released with 2.8 trillion parameters. Moonshot AI, founded by Yang Zhilin in 2023 and based in China, is set to publish the model weights for Kimi K3 on July 27.