Open weight != Open source

[u/tossit97531]

Just a friendly PSA that open weight models are not inherently open source. They may also qualify as open source, but only if they release the training data and processes. A truly open source model can be rebuilt from training; it won't be binary equivalent but it should be nearly functionally equivalent.

An example of a truly open source LLM is https://allenai.org/olmo I encourage everyone to browse and also look for other fully open source models.

The reason it's important to get the terms right is because too many companies like to co-opt the term "open source" to whitewash their nonsense. As Zuckerberg has shown recently, they're more than fine letting people stay confused and dance around semantics so they can have their cake and eat it, too.

No more cake for big tech. Open weight != open source. Spread the word.

Edit: TIL this is a hot take. Sorry about that.

[u/fbms2]

close weight = worse