Progress in open-source (OS) generative AI (particularly language models, LMs) has exploded in recent months. As a consequence — and with the help of desperate internal confessions — people believe it has become a threat to incumbent companies like Google and Microsoft, and leading labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.
I think I speak for the majority when I say that, leaving aside that open-sourcing AI systems indiscriminately could exacerbate risks, we like the idea. OS has a strong positive connotation; it’s not that people dislike Big Tech but that we like when The People has the opportunity to outdo the powerful.