Open source AI is an AI system whose components may be freely used, studied, modified and shared.
Example
A research team publishes the model, training code and a precise description of the data under a free licence.
For pros
The Open Source Initiative published a definition in 2024 (OSAID 1.0): besides the weights, it requires code and sufficient information about the training data. Many models marketed as “open” are only open-weight models with usage restrictions. The EU AI Act grants certain free and open-source models some relief.
