GitHub and companies urge EU politicians to protect open source AI
A number of software companies, including GitHub and Creative Commons, are calling for better protection of open source software in the AI Act in an open letter to the European Parliament. The companies think that this way of working can actually make AI safer.
The letter was produced by GitHub, Creative Commons, EleutherAI, Hugging Face, Laion and Open Future. The authors focus on European policymakers working on regulations regarding artificial intelligence and especially the restrictions imposed on it. The companies, which all have a revenue model around open source software development, are appealing to the European Parliament for such development to be exempted from the restrictions in the AI Act on certain points. “The law can regulate upstream open source projects as if they were commercial or already released AI systems,” writes GitHub. According to the letter writers, this can have unpleasant consequences for development processes. The authors also warn that in this way individual researchers and nonprofit research institutes can no longer do their work.
The letter writers think that open source development can actually add value to artificial intelligence. “Open source is the foundation of AI development and policy,” says GitHub. Open source developers would ensure best practices, document models and ensure transparency. Such policies would also contribute to responsible development, cooperation and competition, the authors say.
The letter contains five suggestions for how policymakers should deal with AI according to the signatories. They should start by defining the components of artificial intelligence. European tech laws, such as the GDPR, are deliberately written in a technology-neutral manner. National supervisors and lawyers can interpret this through statements and decisions. However, the letter writers want that definition to come directly from politics.
Another suggestion is that collaborative groups working on open source AI projects be exempt from the AI Act. That is not an altruistic proposal, because it would mean that the companies that sign the letter are not covered by the law, but their competitors are.
The letter writers further argue that European regulators cooperate more with developers and that the law provides for practical tests for investigations. Finally, the authors want the law to make a clear distinction between different types of artificial intelligence, with open source being a separate category.