Could open source provide a better, more accessible AI?
The Open Model Initiative, recently created by three artificial intelligence companies, Invoke, Comfy Org and Civitai, as a community-driven effort to promote the development and adoption of open-source AI models for image, video, and audio generation, has joined the Linux Foundation, the not-for-profit organization created in 2000 to promote and standardize the use of Linux.
The move is a major step forward in the Linux Foundation’s strategy of greater involvement in the development of AI, securing resources for open source. This allows an organization with a great deal of experience in the management of open source to join forces with innovative companies working on generative AI models, which due to their cumulative nature are most likely destined to end up converging into large open models that benefit everyone.
At the same time, the move provides an alternative to those who consider using their content for model training: despite the fact that AI models do not consume, reproduce and distribute the content used for their training, a growing number of authors, artists and musicians are demanding that AI companies pay them for using their work.