Source: The New York Times
The two AI leaders are lobbying for restrictions on open-source models while their executives publicly champion openness. Regulatory barriers could entrench their market dominance before the field matures. If they succeed in making open-source development prohibitively costly or legally risky, they lock in their first-mover advantage while competitors like Meta and smaller startups face higher friction. The gap between public messaging and private advocacy shows that "open source" has become a brand positioning tool rather than a genuine operational commitment.