OpenAi has made two of its newest AI models available to everyone to download free costs and tweak as they want, in an attempt to challenge similar offers from us and Chinese rivals.
It is an important shift that is aimed at giving researchers, developers and curious users more freedom to explore and build with advanced AI tools.
The release of GPT-OSS-120B and GPT-OSS-20B “Open-Weight Language Models” comes when the chatgpt maker is confronted with growing pressure to reveal more about the inner functioning of his software, in accordance with its origin as a non-profit.
“Going back to when we started in 2015 is the mission of OpenAi to ensure that AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all humanity,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAi.
An open weight model, in the context of generative AI, is one in which the trained parameters are made public, allowing users to refine it.
Meta promotes its open-source approach to AI, while the Chinese AI Startup Deepseek has shaken the industry with its cheap, high-quality model based on an open-weight approach that makes it possible to adapt the technology.
“This is the first time that we release an open weight model in language in a long time, and it is really incredible,” Openai and President Greg Brockman told journalists during a briefing.
The new models with only text only deliver high performance at low costs, according to OpenAI, which said they are suitable for AI tasks such as the search for web or performing computer code, and are designed to be easily performed on local computer systems.
“We are quite hopeful that this release makes new types of research and creating new types of products,” Altman added.
OpenAI said it works with partners, including French telecommunications giant Oranje and Cloud -based Dataplatform Snowflake on practical applications of the models.
The open weight models are refined to prevent abuse for malicious purposes, according to the company.
Earlier this year Altman admitted that the company had been “on the wrong side of history” in terms of openness about his technology.
He later announced that OpenAi would continue to operate as a non-profit, and scrap a controversial proposal to convert into a profit-making entity.
That structural shift had caused tension, whereby large investors demanded a better return.
The plan attracted strong criticism from AI Safety Advocates and co-founder Elon Musk, who left the company in 2018 and later sued an indictment, and claimed that the shift violated the founding principles.
Under the revised framework, the profit-generating arm of OpenAi will continue to operate, but will remain under the supervision of the non-profit organization.
