Want more AI? Try Mastodon!

What a month has just passed! Deep Dive: AI, our innovative form of online event, completed its first two phases. We released five podcast episodes and hosted four live panel discussions.

We’re working to complete the event with a final report, a summary of what we discovered along this path. 

One thing is becoming more clear to me: It’s all about the data. Machine learning requires so much data that assembling significant datasets is a challenge. Small teams need a low-friction way to assemble gigantic datasets and innovate. More challenges are coming from the hardware and ecosystem software, where there are still too many dependencies on proprietary software.

We have a lot more work to do before the end of the year: we’ll start a new membership campaign, introducing a new level of membership. Also, for the first time in 12 years, we’ll increase the basic membership rate to $50/year (today it’s still $40!) 

And you’ll be glad to hear that we’re getting on Mastodon. We believe in federated social networks and we want to do things right, supporting the projects and getting our social media tools aligned. Stay tuned for more announcements in the next few weeks.

Discuss this and other topics during OSI’s informal office hours on Fridays. 

Stefano Maffulli
Executive Director, OSI 

In this month’s Open Source Initiative newsletter:

  • Notable open source news
  • New and renewing sponsors announcements

Raising funds for a good cause while learning about Open Source trends

OpenLogic by Perforce and the Open Source Initiative (OSI) announced the second annual collaborative survey and report on the state of Open Source software. The 2023 State of Open Source survey, open now through the end of November, will gather insights from professionals on the benefits and challenges of working with Open Source – as well as the trends shaping the Open Source ecosystem. Perhaps the most important change from our 2022 survey, however, is that we’re using the survey to raise money for an important cause – The World Food Programme (WFP). For each valid survey response, we’ll be donating $1 USD to the WFP, with each dollar raised providing two meals to people in need.To all OSI members, and to all who work with Open Source software, we invite you to share your insights in this 10-minute survey.

Welcome to Deep Dive: AI
Deep Dive: AI is supported by Github and DataStax

OSI’s Deep Dive is an essential discussion on the future of AI and open source

GitHub is sponsoring Open Source Initiative’s Deep Dive: AI because we think it’s important for the community to unpack how open source software, process, and principles can help best deliver on the promise of AI. Mike Linksvayer, head of developer policy at GitHub, shares his opinions.

Fireside chat with Mike Linksvayer

Why is AI and Open Source important to GitHub? Listen to Mike Linksvayer, head of developer policy at GitHub in a conversation with Open Source Initiative’s executive director Stefano Maffulli.

On the emerging landscape of open AI

The launch of open models like BLOOM and Stable Diffusion is a symbolic birth moment for the field of open AI. In recent months, principles that underpin Open Source programming and other efforts to build information commons are being applied to AI research and development. It’s a turning point, and it’s worthy of consideration by everyone who cares about the future of Open Source software. Several weeks ago, Alex Tarkowski took a closer look at the emergent field, and wrote an analysis that focused on the role of licensing models (followed by a Twitter thread). Read more in his guest blog.

Exploring the business side of AI

On October 11th, we held our first Deep Dive: AI panel focusing on business and AI with five panelists Astor Nummelin Carlberg, Executive Director, Open Forum Europe, David Kanter, Executive Director of MLCommons, Sal Kimmich, Developer Relations – Open Source, Stella Biderman, EleutherAI and Alek Tarkowski, Director of Strategy at Open Future Foundation.The panel recording and full transcript are now available.

How can the society as a whole maintain control of AI systems?

Our second Deep Dive: AI panel occurred on October 13th. Our society panel included panelists Kat Walsh, General Counsel, Creative Commons, Luis Villa, Co-founder and General Counsel, Tidelift, Carlos Muñoz Ferrandis, AI Counsel, Hugging Face and Kit Walsh, Senior Staff Attorney and Assistant Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation.The panel recording and full transcript are now available.

And a huge shoutout to all of our new and renewing sponsors

New:

Renewing:

Are you interested in sponsoring or partnering with the OSI? Please see our Sponsorship Prospectus. Contact us to find out more about how your organization can promote open source development, communities and software.

The Open Source Initiative is pleased to announce the launch of our 2022 Membership Drive!

Only with a strong and active member base can we continue in our role as the internationally recognized nexus of trust, the foundation for, and authority in open source software. Together we can make a difference – become an OSI member today. The OSI offers a variety of opportunities for individuals, open source projects & foundations, public sector organizations, institutions of higher education, and businesses to join and contribute to our mission.