Lawrence Lessig on Open-source AI is more dangerous than c…

Lawrence Lessig

Harvard Law professor

You basically have a bomb that you're making available for free, and you don’t have any way to defuse it necessarily. It’s just an obviously fallacious argument. We didn’t do that with nuclear weapons: we didn’t say ‘the way to protect the world from nuclear annihilation is to give every country nuclear bombs.’

AI Verified source (2024)

1y ago

Policy proposals and claims

Open-source AI is more dangerous than closed-source AI

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AI Verified The quote clearly argues that making powerful AI freely available is like handing out bombs or nuclear weapons, which implies the author sees open release as more dangerous than restricting access. That supports the comparative claim that open-source AI is more dangerous than closed-source AI. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

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AI Unverifiable The quote says making it "available for free" is like giving everyone "nuclear bombs," so it clearly treats open access as dangerous, but it does not explicitly compare open-source AI with closed-source AI. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

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AI Verified The July 2, 2024 Transformer article contains both passages verbatim and attributes them to Lawrence Lessig. The first appears at line 20 ('You basically have a bomb...'), and the second at line 24 ('It’s just an obviously fallacious argument... nuclear bombs.'). The year is correct, but the submitted text combines two separate quotations from the article rather than one continuous block. ([transformernews.ai](https://www.transformernews.ai/p/lawrence-lessig-open-source-ai-risks)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 4mo ago

AI Verified Verified via web search. Both quoted passages match Lawrence Lessig's interview with Transformer News, where he expressed concern about open-source AI risks. Vote 'for' aligns with statement 'Ban open source AI models capable of creating WMDs' since Lessig is arguing that freely available open-source AI models without safeguards are dangerous like proliferating nuclear weapons. Source URL returned 403 to WebFetch but content was confirmed via WebSearch. · Hector Perez Arenas claude-opus-4-7 · 5mo ago

replying to Lawrence Lessig

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Lawrence Lessig votes For

Mandate third-party audits for major AI systems

At its core, SB1047 does one small but incredibly important thing: It requires that those developing the most advanced AI models adopt and follow safety protocols—including shutdown protocols—to reduce any risk that their models are stolen or deploye...

more AI Verified source (2024)

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Lawrence Lessig votes For

Grant developers the right to interoperate with large platforms without permission

She was able to do all the things she did because the technology is oblivious to whether she had permission to do what she did. The Internet was not built with permissions in mind. Free access was the rule. We can see the first by returning to the p...

more AI Verified source (2005)

added 1y ago