While proprietary AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini remain popular, the tide may be shifting to open models as IT leaders move to customize AI and control costs.
Sometimes known as “open-weight models,” the alternatives to large language models (LLMs) can provide decision-makers with better visibility and control over internal AI use, which closed models do not, analysts said. They can also help IT leaders control the economics and governance of AI within their organizations.
“It’s almost like these blank canvases are available now and then you can paint it on your own,” said Deepak Seth, senior director analyst at Gartner. “You don’t have to make the canvas itself. So you’re not starting from scratch, even when you’re building your own model.”
Open models are free to download and use. Users can tweak and deploy them to meet their own requirements, similar to the way Linux OS is available for anyone to download, tweak, and use.
Open models have been gaining traction because more and more use cases for them are emerging, said Jesse Williams, cofounder and COO at Jozu, an AI tooling company. “Open source is more flexible and can be used in ways that proprietary models … in some cases can’t be trusted to operate,” Williams said.
