A consortium consisting of GitHub, Hugging Face, Creative Commons, and other tech companies has penned an open letter urging the European Union to reconsider certain aspects of the upcoming regulations outlined in the Artificial Intelligence Act. Their main concern lies in the potential hindrance these rules could impose on the development of open-source artificial intelligence models. According to the letter, treating open-source projects in the same manner as commercial products or deployed AI systems would run counter to established open-source development practices and negatively impact individual developers and non-profit research organizations. The consortium proposes five suggestions to ensure that the AI Act supports the development of open-source models effectively.

These suggestions include providing clear definitions of AI components, clarifying that collaborative development on open-source models does not subject developers to the same requirements as commercial endeavors, allowing exceptions for researchers through limited real-world testing, and implementing proportional obligations for "foundation models. " Open source software refers to software that is publicly accessible, allowing anyone to examine, modify, and enhance its source code. In the realm of artificial intelligence, open source software plays a vital role in training and deploying models. The letter emphasizes that the AI Act has the potential to set a global precedent for regulating AI, mitigating risks, fostering innovation, and promoting transparency and collaboration among diverse stakeholders. It stresses the need for regulations that provide sufficient standards, oversight, and clear liability and recourse in order to address the challenges associated with AI effectively.