In 1956 AT&T was forced to open 7,820 Bell Labs patents — innovation rose 32%
krishnan · x · 2026-11-01
The author cites a historical precedent: in 1956 the US ordered AT&T to license 7,820 Bell Labs patents royalty-free to anyone. AT&T was fine, and startups and solo inventors built on those patents 32% more — and nobody called it theft. The analogy targets today's frontier labs: ASI-level know-how sits locked in a few labs' weights, and the author challenges the other side to "make the case for the lock." A position piece on whether frontier model weights should stay closed.
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