Press mentions

June 24, 2024

Calls to Ban Open Source are Misguided and Dangerous

The New Stack

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.

June 22, 2024

What does ‘open source AI’ mean, anyway?

TechCrunch

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.

June 18, 2024

The divide over open-source AI, explained

Tech Brew

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.

June 7, 2024

Open Source AI: OSI Wrestles With a Definition

The New Stack

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.

May 30, 2024

Meet the Non-Profit Trying to Create a Definition for Open Source AI

AI Business

“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.”

May 29, 2024

What to Know About the Open Versus Closed Software Debate

The New York Times

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.