How was Open Source AI defined?

The Open Source Definition is a practical guide to judge if legal documents grant the four freedoms to software, following the principles of the GNU Manifesto. More than two decades passed between the GNU Manifesto and the writing of the Open Source Definition. For AI we cannot wait decades to produce a new document. The Open Source Initiative started coordinating in 2022 a global process to sharpen collective knowledge and identify the principles that lead to a widely adopted Open Source AI Definition (OSAID).

OSI brought together global experts to establish a shared set of principles that can recreate permissionless, pragmatic and simplified collaboration for AI practitioners, similar to that which the Open Source Definition has done for the software ecosystem.  The output of this work is a published definition document on the website of the Open Source Initiative.

The document will be used to validate whether an AI system is an Open Source AI, or not. The validation process will be similar to the evaluation of existing licenses for software: community-led, open and public.

The Process

The board requires by the in-person meeting of 2024 in Raleigh, an Open Source AI Definition that is supported by stakeholders that include deployers of AI, end users of AI and subjects (those affected by AI decisions), provides positive examples of AI systems, is rooted in current practice and provides a reference for interested parties.

Collaboration with multiple stakeholders

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has guarded the Open Source Definition for over 25 years and has robust processes for developing, amending, and consulting on licenses. This authority position is recognised by a number of leaders in organizations who have agreed to co-design a new definition suited for AI and ML.

These leaders joined the co-design process in a personal capacity and with various degrees of direct involvement from their employers like Digital Public Goods Alliance, Mozilla Foundation, Open Knowledge Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, Center for Tech and Civic Life, Code for America, Wikimedia Foundation, Creative Commons, Linux Foundation, MLCommons, EleutherAI, Open Future, GitHub, Microsoft, Google, DataStax, Amazon, Meta, Hugging Face, GIZ FAIR Forward – AI for All, OpenLLM France, Polytechnic Institute of Paris, Intel, Apache Software Foundation, Samsung, and the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Co-design process

Co-design, also called participatory or human-centered design, is a set of creative methods used to solve communal problems by sharing knowledge and power. The co-design methodology addresses the challenges of reaching an agreed definition within a diverse community (Costanza-Chock, 2020: Escobar, 2018: Creative Reaction Lab, 2018: Friedman et al., 2019). As noted in MIT Technology Review’s article about this project, “[t]he open-source community is a big tent… encompassing everything from hacktivists to Fortune 500 companies…. With so many competing interests to consider, finding a solution that satisfies everyone while ensuring that the biggest companies play along is no easy task.” (Gent, 2024). The co-design method allows us to integrate these diverging perspectives into one just, cohesive, and feasible standard. Support from such a significant and broad group of people also creates a tension to be managed between moving swiftly enough to deliver outputs that can be used operationally, and taking the time to consult widely to understand the big issues and garner community buy-in. 

The first step of the co-design process was to identify the freedoms needed for Open Source AI. After various online and in-person activities and discussions, including five workshops across the world, the community adopted the four freedoms for software, now adapted for AI systems.

The next step was to form four working groups to initially analyze four AI systems. To achieve better representation, special attention was given to diversity, equity and inclusion. Over 50% of the working group participants are people of color, 30% are black, 75% were born outside the US and 25% are women, trans and nonbinary.

These working groups discussed and voted on which AI system components should be required to satisfy the four freedoms for AI. The components we adopted are described in the Model Openness Framework developed by the Linux Foundation.

The vote compilation was performed based on the mean total votes per component (μ). Components which received over 2μ votes were marked as required and between 1.5μ and 2μ were marked likely required. Components that received between 0.5μ and μ were marked likely not required and less than 0.5μ as not required.

The working groups evaluated legal frameworks and legal documents for each component. Finally, each working group published a recommendation report. The end result is the OSAID with a comprehensive definition checklist encompassing a total of 17 components. More working groups are being formed to evaluate how well other AI systems align with the definition.

OSAID multi-stakeholder co-design process: from component list to a definition checklist

The Open Source AI Definition Process

Who is involved in this process?

Governance

Governance for the project is provided by the OSI Board of Directors. The OSI board members have expertise in business, legal, and open source software development, as well as experience across a range of commercial, public sector, and non-profit organizations. Formal progress reports including achievements, budget updates, and next steps are provided monthly by the Program Lead for advice and guidance as part of regular Board business. Additionally, informal updates on the outcomes of key meetings and milestones are provided via email to the Board as required. Details of the current Board, including profiles for each Director are available on here.

How to participate

The OSAID co-design process is open to everyone interested in collaborating. There are many ways to get involved:

• Join the working groups: be part of a team to evaluate various models against the OSAID.
• Join the forum: support and comment on the documents, record your approval or concerns to new and existing threads.
• Follow the weekly recaps: subscribe to our newsletter and blog to be kept up-to-date.
• Watch the town hall recordings to learn more about the process.
• Join the workshops and scheduled conferences: meet the OSI and other participants at in person events around the world.
• Endorse the Open Source AI Definition: have your organization added to the list of supporters of the OSAID.

---

Previous Work

Deep Dive AI: The 2023 Report Update

Deep Dive AI: The 2022 Report

Supported by

OSI’s efforts wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors and thousands of individual members. Become a sponsor or join us today!