While there is not yet a consensus on the definition of what constitutes “open source AI”, the Open Source Initiative, which maintains the “Open Source Definition” and a list of approved OSS licenses, has been “driving a multi-stakeholder process to define an ‘Open Source AI’”.
Is Meta’s 405 billion parameter model really open source? Depends on who you ask. Here’s how to try out the new engine for yourself.
The cries to “ban open source” first surfaced last autumn—partly a response to Meta and others’ “opening” large language models (LLMs). Lobbyists bandied the phrase around political rallies and across policy circles. Yet many critics could not explain what open source means in any context and were unfamiliar with the Open Source Definition (OSD). Not knowing or understanding the technical details did not appear to be a barrier to sharing a negative opinion.
As per the current draft, an Open Source AI system should grant freedoms to use the system for any purpose without seeking permission; to allow others to study how the system works and inspect its components; and to modify and share the system for any purpose.
Many of the large language models that power chatbots claim to be open, but restrict access to code and training data.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI), the organization widely seen as responsible for setting that standard, recently embarked on a road trip of sorts to ask around about its proposed definitions. Executive Director Stefano Maffulli told us the complexities of the tech and the pace of its development pose unprecedented challenges.
After two years of work, OSI has a draft definition, Stefano Maffulli, executive director of OSI, told The New Stack. The team is going through a “validation phase,” he said, making sure the definition includes everything that falls into the open source category, or is likely to.
“AI is different from regular software and forces all stakeholders to review how the Open Source principles apply to this space,” said Stefano Maffulli, OSI’s executive director. “OSI believes that everybody deserves to maintain agency and control of the technology. We also recognize that markets flourish when clear definitions promote transparency, collaboration and permissionless innovation.”
Open-source software is any such computer code that can be freely distributed, copied or altered to a developer’s own ends. The nonprofit Open Source Initiative, an industry organization, sets other stipulations and standards for what software is considered open source, but it is largely a matter of the code’s being free and open for anyone to use and improve.
Efforts to create a clearer definition for open source A.I. are underway. Researchers at the Linux Foundation in March published a framework that places open source A.I. models into various categories. And the Open Source Initiative, another nonprofit, is trying to draft a definition.
With the debate over what constitutes ‘open source AI’ still raging, the OSI looks to create a clear-cut definition through a new initiative
The Open Source Initiative – the non-profit overseeing the Open Source Definition, which lays out the requirements for software licenses – is taking its effort to define Open Source AI to the wisdom of the crowds.
