NTIA Supports Open Models to Promote AI Innovation | National Telecommunications and Information Administration

"Today, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued policy recommendations embracing openness in artificial intelligence (AI) while calling for active monitoring of risks in powerful AI models....

“The openness of the largest and most powerful AI systems will affect competition, innovation and risks in these revolutionary tools,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “NTIA’s report recognizes the importance of open AI systems and calls for more active monitoring of risks from the wide availability of model weights for the largest AI models. Government has a key role to play in supporting AI development while building capacity to understand and address new risks.”

“Open-weight” models allow developers to build upon and adapt previous work, broadening AI tools’ availability to small companies, researchers, nonprofits, and individuals. The President’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence directed NTIA to review the risks and benefits of large AI models with widely available weights, and to develop policy recommendations maximizing those benefits while mitigating the risks...."