Open-Weight AI Model Licensing
ReutersOSI released its first official draft of the OSAID in 2025. The OSAID closely tracks the OSI’s criteria for open source software.
Press mentions
What’s the difference between proprietary, open weight, and open source AI?
Fast CompanyAs noted by The Open Source Initiative (OSI), a nonprofit, open source models are fully transparent. Not only can users download the models to run locally on their machines, but their full training code and training datasets (or at least data sources, if the datasets aren’t legally permitted to be copied) are also available for examination.
What are ‘open’ AI models?
ComputerworldAccording to the Open Source Initiative (OSI), a truly open-source model also releases the data it was trained on, along with other information allowing those models to be studied, inspected, used, modified and freely distributed.
Attacked by A.I. Agents, This Start-Up Embarked on a Crusade
The New York Times“We welcome Hugging Face’s work on the benefits of ‘open’ models, and we need more of it from everyone who has ever built on open source,” said Katie Steen-James, a senior U.S. policy manager at the nonprofit Open Source Initiative, which promotes open-source software.
Open weights vs. closed: An AI civil war’s afoot, and the stakes are existential
ZDNETThe difference between open-source AI and weights, according to the Open Source Initiative (OSI), is that open weights usually means the trained weights are available, but not necessarily the full training data or source code. The two terms are frequently conflated. The OSI itself declared, “Every AI system in the headlines today, whether proprietary or open source, exists because researchers shared their work openly.” Without open source, there is no AI.
‘Open-Washing’ Is Everywhere in AI. Four Criteria Cut Through It
Tech Policy Press“Open-source” is not a marketing register. It is a standard with specific criteria. For over two decades, the Open Source Initiative has maintained the definition that governs the term in software: the freedom to use, study, modify, and share, for anyone and for any purpose. In 2024, recognizing that model releases were stretching the label past recognition, OSI extended this into the Open Source AI Definition, which requires disclosure of the complete code used in training and sufficiently detailed information about the training data for others to understand and recreate the system.
Open Source Is the Inevitable End State for AI
TechstrongOpen source is no longer just a software movement — it is the foundation the entire AI stack is built on, from CUDA to Kubernetes to the models themselves. Duane O’Brien, the new Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), joins Alan Shimel on TechStrong TV to talk about the organization that has shepherded the Open Source Definition since 1998, why OSI-approved licenses are the Good Housekeeping Seal of the software world, and how OSI is taking on its biggest challenge yet — defining what open source actually means in the age of AI.
G7 Digital and Technology Ministerial Declaration
G7 UKOur Vision on AI openness opportunities and shared language aims to provide greater clarity in the use of terminology describing AI openness. We expect this Vision to help extend the existing benefits of AI openness in science, innovation, and economic growth, as highlighted in the OECD G7 Discussion paper on The Benefits of AI Openness, while ensuring trust in technologies and access to a greater diversity of models. We welcome the valuable contribution of the Open Source Initiative, as well as other members of the community, in supporting the development of this document.
Le G7 s’engage pour un numérique responsable : quatre priorités adoptées sous présidence française
G7 FranceL’open source : une « Vision commune sur l’ouverture de l’IA » a été adoptée, clarifiant les principes techniques et économiques des modèles ouverts. Ce cadre, négocié avec l’Open Source Initiative et l’OCDE, vise à éviter les dérives et à favoriser l’innovation collaborative.
Why age assurance laws matter for developers
GitHubWhether through contacting elected representatives in states considering these proposals like California, Colorado, Illinois, and New York, contributing to Brazil’s Digital ECA public consultation, or engaging with organizations like the Open Source Initiative, or through foundations that steward projects that may be impacted like the FreeBSD Foundation and Debian, there are concrete ways for developers to share their perspectives—helping ensure these policies both support children’s digital safety and reflect technical realities, align with regulatory intent, and avoid unintended harm to the open source ecosystem.
Asserting American Leadership in Open Source AI
a16zThe definition of “open source software” is maintained by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), which focuses on 10 specific conditions that a copyright license must meet. OSI has undertaken an effort to extend this definition to AI with the OSAID, an effort that remains ongoing.
How to engage with policy makers when you’re a developer (not a lobbyist)
We Love Open Sourcetate AI regulations aren’t differentiating between developers and deployers, impacting open source contributors who could be held responsible for downstream uses they don’t control. In this episode, Katie Steen-James, Senior US Policy Manager at the Open Source Initiative, joins the We Love Open Source podcast to share how developers can engage with policy makers, why the Federal Register matters, and what the developer versus deployer distinction means for protecting open source.