Security researcher Micah Flee tells users to ditch ChatGPT and Claude for open models
In a new essay, Flee argues OpenAI and Anthropic's surveillance-like guardrails and data access make open-weight models like GLM-5.3 the better choice.
What to know
- Flee contends OpenAI and Anthropic retain full access to chat sessions even when users opt out of training, and apply strict automated monitoring ('cop agent') to cybersecurity-related use.
- He criticizes OpenAI's Trusted Access for Cyber and Anthropic's Cyber Verification Program, which grant select companies and likely government/military users less-restricted model access.
- He argues open-weight models like GLM-5.3 are roughly four months behind proprietary models but adequate for complex tasks including vulnerability research, without the monitoring overhead.
- The essay frames frontier lab leadership in ideological terms, drawing on the book 'End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World' by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor.
“Every session has a cop agent reading your transcript over your shoulder, making sure you're not using it for hacking. If it thinks you might be, the cop agent stops your session from continuing.”
Micah Flee, Security engineer, blogger · micahflee.com ↗ · Oct 10
Micah Flee Software and security engineer, blogger
Sam Altman OpenAI CEO
Dario Amodei Anthropic CEOOpenAI AI lab, maker of ChatGPTAnthropic AI lab, maker of Claude
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Flee promotes the essay on Mastodon
Flee shared the essay on his Mastodon account, summarizing its argument that open-weight models now make reliance on ChatGPT or Claude unnecessary even for complex agentic tasks.
“I just wrote about how good open weight models like GLM-5.3 are these days, and how you really don't need ChatGPT or Claude at all anymore, even for complex agentic stuff…”
— micahflee@infosec.exchange -
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I just wrote about how good open weight models like GLM-5.3 are these days, and how you really don't need ChatGPT or Claude at all anymore, even for complex agentic stuff https:// micahflee.com/just-say-no-to-o penai-and-anthropic/
2 more of the top 3 · 20 posts in this stretch
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I don't think it's hyperbole, I think it just sounds like hyperbole because it's so crazy. And we're kind of blinded to how crazy these founders are because they've just... been crazy for a while. A weird thing happens where if you're just a little bit crazy, people freak out. But if you're REALLY crazy, then nobody cares because they assume you…
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> I like hyperbole as much as the next guy. And I'm cynical by nature. But this just seems like a wildly pessimistic view that gives literally zero charity to anyone working at or leading a frontier lab.Reading TFA, I too paused on that sentence, thinking "This is overstated and feels like overheated rhetoric." My reasoning though is a bit…
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Micah Flee publishes 'Just say no to OpenAI and Anthropic' essay
Flee's blog post argues that OpenAI and Anthropic retain access to users' chat data despite opt-out options, impose strict 'cop agent' monitoring on cybersecurity use, and that open-weight models like GLM-5.3 are a comparably capable, less restricted alternative.
“the American frontier labs are run by unhinged lunatics who genuinely believe they're creating the Machine God…”
— Micah Flee
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Fortune, 2d ago · also HN Frontpage, micahflee
1 more headline
- Just say no to OpenAI and Anthropic HN Frontpage · 2d ago
What people are saying 17 voices from 2 sites · best of 21 · verbatim
- Oct 13
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Ok... but why single out OpenAI and Anthropic? While they preach AI doomerism, other "tech overlords" like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have already done much more tangible harm...
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> who genuinely believe they're creating the Machine GodNo, they believe enough people are dumb enough to buy their fairy tales and that they could achieve world domination given enough protection. That possibility justifies a lot of BS and pseudo-religion.
- Oct 12
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> Their models have strict guardrails,This is what bothers me most, and it's getting increasingly frustrating. With the recent development of PS4/5 emulation and game porting, it will only get worse (back snatching or lawsuits).
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I asked GPT-6-Luna to summarize the article, and it "helpfully" included a third paragraph to point out that the author is opinionated and not neutral in his judgement.Good times.
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Running local is not as difficult as it is, if the will is there and you are resourceful, you can do it.
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Is a special hardware setup required to run open weight models? It's not clear to me from the article. Also, what does paying for inference mean? I thought the inference step happened during the training of the models, and that by the time I am interfacing with an LLM all the inference has been long done.
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In my MacStudios, I trust.seriously: there's a multitude of reasons not to get hooked on Frontier Labs.Unclear cost. Will they use your data against you? will their models work consistently over time? Will they be there at all? Their datacenters harm everyone living arround them. Their 'controversial' owners and bosses.....
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The "think they're building the Machine God" part and "think they're the only ones that can be trusted to build it" parts are true.Controversially: I agree with them. They're correct to think that. They are, and they are.At the very least, the former is true even if the latter is murky. I trust them over Facebook and Google and China and open…
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> that gives literally zero charity to anyone working at or leading a frontier labWith all due respect, dude, who cares.Oh noes! We are not giving the billionaire steering reality without a democratic mandate enough benefit of the doubt. I'm sure they will feel mildly sad now.It is a valid and admirable goal to defend people that are being shat on…
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If you don't trust OpenAI and Anthropic to follow their own policies, how do you decide what companies to trust? Vibes?
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If you don't trust OpenAI and Anthropic not to abide by their own Privacy Policy, you really should not trust OpenCode Go. The latter (last time I checked) is very opaque. Why don't they reveal who the backend providers are?
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It's hard to do that when private equity says yes and shoves it down users.At my own stuff I can do what I want, at work I have no agency and it's not looking like anything is changing soon.
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I switched to GLM on 5.2 and I am happy to be off the two evil frontier providers.But now I have two new issues:1. I have fomo from not being face-in the bleeding edge of things.2. I am ambivalent about z.ai. China -based company is problematic, but they should get my money since they do good for the world. Switching to Mistral for GLM makes my…
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> American frontier labs are run by unhinged lunatics who genuinely believe they're creating the Machine God, that they're fine with burning down the world to bring about AGI, and that they believe with religious fervor that they're the only ones smart enough to safely control itI like hyperbole as much as the next guy. And I'm cynical by nature…
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> ChatGPT and Claude will never be private> These companies only offer closed versions of their powerful models (despite the word "open" in "OpenAI"). You pay them for chat and/or API access, and they are allowed to look at everything you do.How should I reconcile this claim with 'Google Vertex' and 'Amazon Bedrock' being offered as providers with…
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I'm concerned our media / political ecosystem is too dysfunctional to not repeat the mistakes we made with Big Tech & Social again with Big Ai. I find it curious how split the dev community is, and especially HN, is on this, which has long been skeptical and speaking truth to power. I'm surprised at how quickly the public switched to abdicating to…
- Oct 7
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WAIT... WHAT? Anthropic has completely lost its mind. It's over for OpenAI.