Open or Closed? The battle for the soul of GenAI

In this talk on the future of generative AI, I debate the merits of an "open" versus "closed" approach — depending on how one defines "open."

Drawing on my involvement in the 2004 Firefox launch, the invention of the hashtag, and my consistent advocacy for open formats, standards, and source, I aimed to highlight the enduring significance and courage found in embracing genuine openness as a moral imperative, now more crucial than ever.

1. Hey there, I’m Chris Messina April 22, 2024 ・ Shack15 ・ chrismessina.me
2. Hey there, I’m Chris Messina I’m here to speak about… April 22, 2024 ・ Shack15 ・ chrismessina.me
3. Photo by The battle for the soul of GenAI Open or Closed?
4. …which I suppose is because
8. Photo by
9. • B a rc a mp • Coworking • Microform a ts • The H a sht a g • ActivityStre a ms • OpenID & OAuth
11. Andrius Kulikauskas
13. I accept the idea that I should give everything away.” — Andrius Kulikauskas “
15. Our goal is to […] unravel the normal economy, turning it inside out.” — David Ellison-Bey “
17. Image by
18. Image by
20. We strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation.” — Satya Nadella, Microso ft CEO “
23. Photo by
25. source open data open weights & models open licensing open protocols open
28. AP Photo
31. 2. Addition a l Commerci a l Terms. If, on the Met a Ll a m a 3 version rele a se d a te, the monthly a ctive users of the products or services m a de a v a il a ble by or for Licensee, or Licensee’s aff i li a tes, is gre a ter th a n 700 million monthly a ctive users in the preceding c a lend a r month, you must request a license from Met a , which Met a m a y gr a nt to you in its sole discretion, a nd you a re not a uthorized to exercise a ny of the rights under this Agreement unless or until Met a otherwise expressly gr a nts you such rights.
33. Photo by Open or Closed?
34. Photo by It depends!
35. Photo by Open or Closed?
36. Photo by What are we solving for?
37. I have thoughts.
38. But I had this dream…
39. Image by
40. Image by
41. ☭
44. Photo by Open or Closed?
45. Photo by
46. Artwork by
47. Artwork by
49. Low hills closed in on either side a s the tr a in eventu a lly cr a wled on to high, t a bletop gr a ssl a nds cre a sed with snow. Birds fl ew a t window level. I could see l a kes of a n unre a l cob a lt blue to the north. The tr a in pulled into a spr a wling r a il y a rd: the K a z a kh side of the K a z a khst a n-Chin a border.
50. Workers unhitched the c a rs, li ft ed them, one by one, ten feet high with gi a nt j a cks, a nd repl a ced the wide-g a uge Russi a n underc a rri a ges with n a rrower ones for the Chinese tr a cks. Russi a n g a uges, still in use throughout the former Soviet Union, a re wider th a n the world st a nd a rd. The ide a w a s to the prevent inv a ders from entering Russi a by tr a in. The ch a ngeover took hours. — Robert D. Kaplan, The Ends of the Earth
51. Workers unhitched the c a rs, li ft ed them, one by one, ten feet high with gi a nt j a cks, a nd repl a ced the wide-g a uge Russi a n underc a rri a ges with n a rrower ones for the Chinese tr a cks. Russi a n g a uges, still in use throughout the former Soviet Union, a re wider th a n the world st a nd a rd. The ide a w a s to the prevent inv a ders from entering Russi a by tr a in. The ch a ngeover took hours. — Robert D. Kaplan, The Ends of the Earth
53. We overestimate what we can achieve in a day, but underestimate what we can accomplish in a month, a year, or a decade.” — Maybe Tony Robbins, via Claude 3 Haiku “
54. Photo by
55. I have thoughts.
56. I want to recruit you. Image credit to the
57. Photo by
58. Photo by
59. Git stores and thinks about information in the same way that you might imagine a tree: there are branches, there is a trunk, and the commit points themselves are sort of like the [growth rings of] the tree.” — Scott Chacon, co-author of the Pro Git book “
61. 93.6% Of the top million web servers run Linux —ZDNET, July 2023
62. 70.8% Share of Android’s mobile operating share worldwide —statcounter, March 2024
63. 43% Of all the websites on the internet run WordPress —colorlib, January 2024
64. Photo by
66. Photo by
67. Photo by
68. Our goal is to […] unravel the normal economy, turning it inside out.” — David Ellison-Bey “
69. source data weights & models licensing protocols closed closed closed closed closed
70. source data weights & models licensing protocols closed closed closed closed closed open open open open open
71. #ThankYou
72. Photo by The battle for the soul of GenAI Open or Closed? April 22, 2024 ・ Shack15 ・ chrismessina.me