The Week in Open-Source AI | 7.3

The most powerful AI you could rent went dark for 19 days — everyone, everywhere, switched off by a government letter. It came back on this week. During that same period, OpenAI launched its newest models…to about 20 approved organizations. Meanwhile, the model nobody can switch off kept climbing.

This week, I’m trying something new: Owners Not Renters will be audio and video instead of just the written issue. So, in under seven minutes: the Claude Fable 5 shutdown (and reinstatement!), GLM-5.2 closing to within a percentage point of Claude Opus 4.8, Europe funding a 400-billion-parameter open model, what owning your stack costs, two new papers showing your AI’s memory fails in both directions, and the 3D-printed duck robot my son and I are building this summer.

Tell me what you think. And yes, the code behind this should be open source. I know. I’m getting to it.

• My Transformer op-ed on the shutdown

• Anthropic on redeploying Fable 5

• The reinstatement, covered

• The full timeline

• OpenAI previews GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, Luna)

• CNBC on the government-gated launch

• CNBC on GLM-5.2 closing in

• GLM-5.2 weights

• GLM-5.2 docs and benchmarks

• Reuters on Domyn’s EUROPA model

• Protocols, Not Platforms

• Aravind Srinivas on export controls and open source

• Lucas Tech on what running GLM-5.2 locally costs

• Ricky Bureau’s math on open models for private equity

• MemLeak (it keeps what you kill)

• Manufactured Confidence (it hardens what you hedged)

• Open Duck Mini