The Mozilla Foundation (MoFo), “a global nonprofit dedicated to keeping the Internet a public resource that is open and accessible to all,”

A Forgotten Manifesto: Mozilla Betrays Its Own Values on Open Source AI - Sam Johnston

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2024-12-22 17:00:21

The Mozilla Foundation (MoFo), “a global nonprofit dedicated to keeping the Internet a public resource that is open and accessible to all,” proudly proclaims “we’re reclaiming the internet, building trustworthy AI, and holding tech companies accountable”. And yet, when the Open Source Initiative (OSI) recently released their contentious Open Source AI Definition (OSAID) — which does not require the “source” of AI models (i.e., the data), Mozilla celebrated it as “an important step forward for open source AI.”

This definition has already been roundly rejected by the industry, including fellow Debian Linux developers who consider it “obvious bulls—t“, the Free Software Foundation with their own definition, the Software Freedom Conservancy running a single-issue ticket against the board, and even Bruce Perens, co-founder of the OSI (since exiled by it) and Open Source Definition (OSD) author arguing the 25-year old existing definition doesn’t even need to be changed. He reckons there is no need to rewrite it as it can already be applied as is to the source, including data (like AI models). The data is the source for AI, and without it, we simply cannot ensure openness.

In response to Mozilla’s “naïve” letter in the name of “economists” — which despite making some great points sadly admitted “there are many ways to define open source AI” and caveated that “open source AI, appropriately defined, will generate many global economic benefits” — Perens had this to say:

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