The Download: open model trade-offs and geothermal power’s promise

What happened

Anthropic recently released a report arguing that a powerful new model released by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk. Safety advocates warn that open models can be misused by bad actors, while supporters argue they could prevent a handful of companies from controlling this powerful technology.

Its core concern was that it is freely available for anyone to download and modify. The warning was the latest flashpoint in a debate over whether frontier AI models should be open or kept behind the doors of frontier labs.

Here’s why the debate over open AI is more complicated than it seems . 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch: Fervo Energy and its plan to streamline geothermal power Fervo Energy is one of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch 2026 , available exclusively to subscribers .

Key facts

• Anthropic recently — released: a report arguing that a powerful new model — released: by the Chinese company Z.ai, poses a major cyberattack risk