https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4543807 Skip to main content PDF iconDownload This Paper Open PDF in Browser Add Paper to My Library Share: * * * * Permalink Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely [https://papers.ssrn.] Copy URL [https://dx.doi.org/1] Copy DOI Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI 27 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2023 See all articles by David Gray Widder David Gray Widder Carnegie Mellon University - School of Computer Science Sarah West AI Now Institute Meredith Whittaker Signal Foundation Date Written: August 17, 2023 Abstract This paper examines 'open' AI in the context of recent attention to open and open source AI systems. We find that the terms 'open' and 'open source' are used in confusing and diverse ways, often constituting more aspiration or marketing than technical descriptor, and frequently blending concepts from both open source software and open science. This complicates an already complex landscape, in which there is currently no agreed on definition of 'open' in the context of AI, and as such the term is being applied to widely divergent offerings with little reference to a stable descriptor. So, what exactly is 'open' about 'open' AI, and what does 'open' AI enable? To better answer these questions we begin this paper by looking at the various resources required to create and deploy AI systems, alongside the components that comprise these systems. We do this with an eye to which of these can, or cannot, be made open to scrutiny, reuse, and extension. What does 'open' mean in practice, and what are its limits in the context of AI? We find that while a handful of maximally open AI systems exist, which offer intentional and extensive transparency, reusability, and extensibility- the resources needed to build AI from scratch, and to deploy large AI systems at scale, remain 'closed'--available only to those with significant (almost always corporate) resources. From here, we zoom out and examine the history of open source, its cleave from free software in the mid 1990s, and the contested processes by which open source has been incorporated into, and instrumented by, large tech corporations. As a current day example of the overbroad and ill-defined use of the term by tech companies, we look at 'open' in the context of OpenAI the company. We trace its moves from a humanity-focused nonprofit to a for-profit partnered with Microsoft, and its shifting position on 'open' AI. Finally, we examine the current discourse around 'open' AI-looking at how the term and the (mis)understandings about what 'open' enables are being deployed to shape the public's and policymakers' understanding about AI, its capabilities, and the power of the AI industry. In particular, we examine the arguments being made for and against 'open' and open source AI, who's making them, and how they are being deployed in the debate over AI regulation. Taken together, we find that 'open' AI can, in its more maximal instantiations, provide transparency, reusability, and extensibility that can enable third parties to deploy and build on top of powerful off-the-shelf AI models. These maximalist forms of 'open' AI can also allow some forms of auditing and oversight. But even the most open of 'open' AI systems do not, on their own, ensure democratic access to or meaningful competition in AI, nor does openness alone solve the problem of oversight and scrutiny. While we recognize that there is a vibrant community of earnest contributors building and contributing to 'open' AI efforts in the name of expanding access and insight, we also find that marketing around openness and investment in (somewhat) open AI systems is being leveraged by powerful companies to bolster their positions in the face of growing interest in AI regulation. And that some companies have moved to embrace 'open' AI as a mechanism to entrench dominance, using the rhetoric of 'open' AI to expand market power while investing in 'open' AI efforts in ways that allow them to set standards of development while benefiting from the free labor of open source contributors. Keywords: artificial intelligence, open source, political economy, policy, AI, Big Tech, privacy, data, competition Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation Gray Widder, David and West, Sarah and Whittaker, Meredith, Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI (August 17, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/ abstract=4543807 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4543807 David Gray Widder Carnegie Mellon University - School of Computer Science ( email ) 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 United States Sarah West (Contact Author) AI Now Institute ( email ) 60 5th AVE, 8TH FLOOR nyc, NY New York 10013 United States Meredith Whittaker Signal Foundation ( email ) 650 Castro Street, Suite 120-223 Mountain View, CA 94041 United States HOME PAGE: http://https://signalfoundation.org/en/ PDF iconDownload This Paper Open PDF in Browser Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN? Place Job Opening Paper statistics Downloads 1,690 Abstract Views 7,194 Rank 20,366 PlumX Metrics Related eJournals * Artificial Intelligence eJournal Follow Artificial Intelligence eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic FOLLOWERS 382 PAPERS 7,253 * Communication & Technology eJournal Follow Communication & Technology eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic FOLLOWERS 93 PAPERS 2,964 Feedback Feedback to SSRN Feedback (required) [ ] Email (required) [ ] Submit If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. Submit a Paper Section 508 Text Only Pages SSRN Quick Links * SSRN Solutions * Research Paper Series * Conference Papers * Partners in Publishing * Jobs & Announcements * Special Topic Hubs SSRN Rankings * Top Papers * Top Authors * Top Organizations About SSRN * SSRN Objectives * Network Directors * Presidential Letter * Announcements * Contact us * FAQs * * * Copyright Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To learn more, visit Cookie Settings. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l200 in 0.078 seconds