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‘Open source’ AI isn’t truly open — here’s how researchers can reclaim the term
Many firms are misusing the ‘open source’ label. The scientific community, which relies on transparency and replicability, must resist this trend.
As the executive director of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) based in Palo Alto, California, my priority since 2022 has been clarifying what the term actually means in the AI era. For example, an analysis by OSI found that several popular large language models, such as Llama2 and Llama 3.x (developed by Meta), Grok (X), Phi-2 (Microsoft) and Mixtral (Mistral AI), are incompatible with open-source principles. The main reason why some companies might be misusing the open-source label is to sidestep proposed regulations under the European Union’s 2024 AI Act, which exempts free and open software from strict scrutiny.
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