Opening up about AI: OSI defines open source AI

Open Source Initiative (OSI) has provided its first definition of open source artificial intelligence.¹ A California public benefit corporation, OSI has been defining and certifying open source software for over twenty years, and has been working with AI developers to agree upon a definition of open source AI.² As a recognized leader in open source software advocacy, OSI’s definition may have significant implications on AI development, deployment, and licensing, particularly in the United States as legislatures and regulators develop laws and guidelines for AI.

OSI’s definition of open source AI requires, in addition to disclosure of AI source code and model parameters, details about the data used to train an AI system, such as:

• A “complete description of all data used for training,”
• a “listing of all publicly available training data and where to obtain it,” and
• a “listing of all training data obtainable from third parties and where to obtain it.”

Therefore, OSI’s open source AI definition does not require disclosure of all data used, but does require “sufficiently detailed information about the data used to train the system.”

While OSI’s open source AI definition is not legally binding at this time, and may face competing definitions offered by other organizations, the definition could shape future legislative and legal decisions. For example, the European Union’s AI Act³ excludes open source AI from some requirements, including disclosure of details about model training, and California’s Artificial Intelligence Training Data and Transparency Act⁴ already includes training data transparency requirements. US legislators, regulators, and courts could adopt a similar framework for which the definition of open source AI could be important.

For now, while AI developers and licensors in the US are not required to adhere to OSI’s definition of open source AI, it may benefit some organizations to consider the definition for their AI developments and licenses.

__________
1 https://opensource.org/ai/open-source-ai-definition

2 https://opensource.org/deepdive

3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024R1689

4 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2013

[View source.]