Open Source AI Is Booming. The Money Is in Everything Around the Model.
The model is free. The bill isn't — and that's the whole open-source AI business model. Everyone keeps announcing "open" models like the download is the product. It isn't. The weights are free; everything that turns a download into something a real company can actually run is where the money change
Posted on Nov 4 • Edited on Nov 4 • Originally published at agentic-affairs.com
The model is free. The bill isn't — and that's the whole open-source AI business model.
Everyone keeps announcing "open" models like the download is the product. It isn't. The weights are free; everything that turns a download into something a real company can actually run is where the money changes hands. If you're still arguing about which model is "most open," you're missing the only question that matters: who gets paid, and for what?
The uncomfortable version of the boom: the model is becoming a shared resource, and the profits are pooling with whoever owns the infrastructure, the distribution, and the trust around it. That's a fine business. Just don't call it a gift.
Read the full analysis on Agentic Affairs: Open Source AI Is Booming. The Money Is in Everything Around the Model.
Originally published on Agentic Affairs ( https://agentic-affairs.com )