OpenAI has faced criticism for not living up to its name's implication of openness. CEO Sam Altman addressed this in a Reddit AMA, explaining the shift to closed AI models as a pathway to ensure safety. He acknowledged that while open-source plays a crucial role in the ecosystem, OpenAI has opted for a model that allows for the development of powerful APIs and services, which they believe better meets their safety goals. Altman expressed a desire to open-source more in the future. This year has seen OpenAI under scrutiny for not releasing the code for models like GPT-4, despite having previously open-sourced GPT-2 in 2019. Elon Musk, a cofounder of OpenAI, has been a prominent critic, claiming that the organization has strayed from its original open-source and non-profit mission.

Following his lawsuit alleging a breach of contract, Musk dropped it later but filed another, claiming to have been deceived into founding the company. The debate over open vs. closed-source AI remains a pertinent issue, particularly highlighted by competitors like Meta, which advocates for open-source AI. They recently released the Llama 3. 2 models, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg arguing that open-source is crucial for safety. However, Meta's licensing restrictions have led to disputes over whether their models can genuinely be considered "open-source, " with the Open Source Initiative stating that such restrictions disqualify it from that definition. Meta maintains that their model is safely available and continues to engage with the AI community to address these complexities responsibly.