What is open source AI?

The AI landscape is complex, with proprietary models being developed by private companies like OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Anthropic, which keep their source code and training data secret. In contrast, open-source models are released under licenses that allow anyone to use, modify, and distribute them freely. However, the process of "open-washing" has been identified, where researchers claim a model is open source but it's not. The Open Source Initiative is working on developing a strict definition for what constitutes an open-source AI model, which would require the sharing of source code, training data, parameters, and other technical details. Meanwhile, open models are available through platforms like Hugging Face, offering users more flexibility and freedom to use and modify them, although some licenses may have restrictions on commercial use or specific applications. Ultimately, whether to use an open or proprietary AI model depends on the user's needs and technical capabilities.