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Source: Axios

A closely watched Nvidia-backed startup called Reflection is preparing to shake up the AI race with a powerful open-weight system that could threaten Chinese upstarts and U.S. AI giants alike.Why it matters: The marriage of an American open-weight model and Nvidia GPUs would give individuals and companies a new, cheaper alternative to Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.Open models, designed to compete with Chinese rivals, can be harder to monitor and regulate than the Big Three so-called frontier models. Supporters of such ecosystems say their widespread availability and transparency also bring security advantages.Reflection's first model is set to be joined by other open-weight models from other Western players this month, sources tell Axios. That will bring a new competitive dimension to the AI boom.State of play: Reflection's model, set to be released soon, is expected to initially lag behind the most cutting-edge U.S. models and be competitive with top Chinese open-weight models.Sources tell Axios it will still boast powerful intelligence — capable enough to help companies build their own proprietary, low-cost AI systems.Combining a lower-tier open model with high-quality company data can yield results that rival the most expensive frontier AI systems in certain situations.A Reflection spokesperson declined to comment.The big picture: Open-weight...