Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The Biden administration is instructing the government not to restrict the widespread availability of large, open source AI models.
Why it matters: Government support for open source models is good news for companies looking to compete against those that have dominated the market from the jump.
Driving the news: The policy recommendation is part of a highly anticipated report released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Tuesday.
- The Commerce Department agency also calls for actively monitoring powerful AI model risks and restricting model availability "if warranted."
Winners: Startups and bigger players like Meta and IBM say open source models are key for driving innovation, competition and transparency.
- "We believe in an open innovation ecosystem and see the immense value of community-built technology as the best way to grow AI responsibly and mitigate potential misuse," IBM's Darío Gil said in a statement, calling for faster government investment in adopting open source AI.
Losers: Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
- Google has released a pair of open sourced AI models, but its biggest and direct competitor to ChatGPT, Gemini, is closed source.
Friction point: One concern with open source models is the ability of bad actors, like hackers or foreign adversaries, to get their hands on powerful code.
The risk-monitoring NTIA is calling for entails:
- Researching the safety of "powerful and consequential AI models" and their downstream uses.
- Coming up with thresholds of risk indicators to signal a potential change in policy.
- Restricting access in the case of bio-risk concerns and working with international partners to set norms.
