What is open-weights AI?
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Demonstrators hold a sign that reads “AI Belongs to Everyone” during the Open Weights Mini March in San Francisco, on July 25.
PHOTO: BRENNAN SMART/NYTIMES
Kate Conger, Mike Isaac and Meaghan Tobin
- Open weights in AI refer to the public release of the numerical calculations that govern how AI models operate, allowing users to modify and adapt the AI for specific purposes.
- Leading AI companies like OpenAI keep their models mostly closed due to safety and business concerns, while others argue open weights encourage innovation and security through wider scrutiny.
- China's tech sector embraces open-source AI, releasing powerful models publicly, which challenges US dominance and intensifies debates on AI openness and regulation in Silicon Valley.
AI generated
Silicon Valley has been embroiled in a pitched battle over how artificial intelligence software should be created.
Some have said AI models should be “closed” because they are too powerful and dangerous to be developed openly.
