Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, has expressed support for American AI labs employing distillation methods to extract knowledge from leading AI models, a practice currently under scrutiny due to allegations against Chinese labs. Distillation involves extensively querying a model to understand its reasoning and is commonly used to train new AI systems. While some, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, have called for regulatory action against what they describe as "illicit distillation attacks" by Chinese entities, Tan argues against imposing restrictions on this practice in the U.S. He emphasizes that American labs should be free to access frontier AI models openly and legitimately, without resorting to unauthorized means. Tan points out that proprietary AI developers themselves did not seek permission when using vast amounts of publicly available data to train their models, suggesting that controlling how customers use AI outputs may be overly restrictive. He envisions a balanced AI ecosystem where frontier labs continue to innovate and receive funding, while open-weight models provide broader access and freedom. Tan warns that concentrating AI capabilities within a single dominant company could stifle competition and innovation, describing such a scenario as a significant risk for the industry.