ChatGPT creator OpenAI is getting ready to release an open-source AI model, report says

• OpenAI is preparing to release an open-source AI model, according to The Information.
• The outlet did not specify a timeline for the model's release.
• The move comes amid mounting pressure from open-source alternatives.

OpenAI is preparing to release an open-source AI model, The Information reported, citing a source with knowledge of the plan.

The company led by Sam Altman has been the subject of intense scrutiny since the release of its popular AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT in November.

The large language models behind the bot, GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, are both closed source. Although the first two versions of GPT were open source, little is known about the newest iteration.

In a report accompanying the release of GPT-4, OpenAI researchers said: "Given both the competitive landscape and the safety implications of large-scale models like GPT-4, this report contains no further details about the architecture (including model size), hardware, training compute, dataset construction, training method." 

The company's decision to release another open-source AI model comes amid mounting pressure from free alternatives to mainstream models. No timeline was given for the new release, however.

Earlier this month, a Googler said in a leaked document the company would likely lose the AI arms race to open-source engineers. 

The Googler suggested that while Google had "done a lot of looking over" its shoulders at Microsoft-backed OpenAI, open-source engineers had been surpassing them both. 

"The uncomfortable truth is, we aren't positioned to win this arms race and neither is OpenAI," they added.

The recent boom of open-source development was partly spurred on by Meta allowing academics access to sophisticated machine-learning models that are able to understand conversational language, according to The Information. 

Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.