How open is OpenAI?

Happy Friday, it’s Rachel in San Francisco. OpenAI’s hectic past few weeks have raised a fierce debate. But first...Three things you need to [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Happy Friday, it’s Rachel in San Francisco. OpenAI’s hectic past few weeks have raised a fierce debate. But first... Three things you need to know today: • US pushes for [global AI regulations at UN]( • Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin [wants to buy TikTok]( • Adobe gave a weak forecast[that disappointed investors]( Just what does “open” really mean? It’s been a busy few weeks for OpenAI: The company announced that [an external review cleared]( Chief Executive Officer [Sam Altman](bbg://people/profile/16408119) of wrongdoing after his dramatic firing last year. It said Altman would rejoin the board, along with three new directors. And [Elon Musk](bbg://people/profile/1954518) sued the company, prompting it to shoot back with a legal filing and a strongly worded blog post that includes several of Musk’s almost-decade-old emails. The tumult could seem like a distraction from the startup’s seemingly unending march toward AI advancement. But the tension, and the latest debate with Musk, illuminates a central question for OpenAI, along with the tech world at large as it’s increasingly consumed by artificial intelligence: Just how open should an AI company be? Musk’s suit, [filed in late February](, alleges that the startup departed from its mission to build responsible AI and that it’s become beholden to Microsoft Corp., its largest investor. Musk also alleges that OpenAI went back on an agreement included in a 2015 incorporation document to open source its technology to the public — that is, make its source code freely available to anyone to use or modify it — “when applicable.” The definition comes from the nonprofit Open Source Initiative, which offers [explicit criteria]( for what makes open-source software truly open source. OpenAI disagrees with Musk’s allegations in general, and has vociferously denied them in a [recent blog post]( and [court filing](. The meaning of the word “open” in “OpenAI” seems to be a particular sticking point for both sides — something that you might think sounds, on the surface, pretty clear. But actual definitions are both complex and controversial. Musk was part of the founding team of OpenAI and, according to the lawsuit, picked its name. “Mr. Musk came up with the name of the new lab, a name reflecting the Founding Agreement: ‘Open AI Institute,’ or simply, ‘OpenAI,’” he said in the suit. Musk has repeatedly said that OpenAI is no longer open because it’s working with Microsoft and doesn’t open source its code. But according to an email from a company co-founder, the definition of “open” is meant to broadly apply to using AI to make the world better. In early January 2016 — less than a month after [OpenAI was introduced to the public]( — OpenAI chief scientist [Ilya Sutskever](bbg://people/profile/23717953) wrote in an email to Musk that the company would have to become less open about its technology over time. “The Open in OpenAI means that everyone should benefit from the fruits of AI after its built,” Sutskever wrote, “but it's totally OK to not share the science (even though sharing everything is definitely the right strategy in the short and possibly medium term for recruitment purposes).” Musk responded to this note with an impressively succinct response: “Yup.” If this exchange leaves you a bit confused, you’re not alone; I’ve been thinking about it since OpenAI released it as part of a trove of old emails last week. What is crystal clear is that Sutskever, at least, felt that openness in the sense of publicly sharing code was a useful hiring strategy for the then-fledgling company — something that telegraphed its idealistic mission that could give it an advantage over established tech industry titans. In terms of actual disclosures the company has made, reality is muddier. It’s true that OpenAI has open sourced [some of its technology](, but it has not open sourced most of its technology. It lets people pay to use much of the AI software it has developed — which makes sense given the mandate of the for-profit part of the company. (It’s also notable that Musk’s OpenAI competitor, xAI, also does not open source its code, though Musk said it will do so with its Grok chatbot this week.) There are real arguments against open sourcing sensitive technology – for example, if the US wants to retain its AI edge globally, certain advancements may need to be kept private. And it makes sense that if a company needs to raise billions to train its models, it can’t just give away its products for free without coming up with another source of revenue. More broadly, [not everyone even uses the term “open source” to mean the same things](, which can be confusing or even deceptive. But while there might be good reasons to keep technology private, or not make it entirely open in accordance with OSI’s definition, it doesn’t make it any less perplexing to hear that the word “open” doesn’t mean anything close to what you thought it did. —[Rachel Metz](mailto:rmetz17@bloomberg.net) The big story Companies are increasingly using AI for faster oil drilling and to predict when active well pumps will fail. The new technology’s [goal is to squeeze more oil from wells and slash costs](, but this could undermine efforts to rein in global oil output and increase prices by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. 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