Nathan Lambert's first open models lecture: distillation, risks and the ecosystem explained

natolambert · x · 2026-10-26

Nathan Lambert released his first lecture on open models, mapping the ecosystem's many pieces and the open debates shaping its future, with plans to refresh it every 6 months.

Chapters cover: what an open model is; why it matters; how competitive the best open models are today; how they're built and the role of distillation; whether people actually use them; and what comes next. Video, slides and a reading list are all provided.

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