OpenAI to release open-source model as AI economics force strategic shift

OpenAI announced plans to release its first “open-weight” language model since 2019, marking a dramatic strategic shift for the company that built its business on proprietary AI systems.

Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, revealed the news in a post on X on Monday. “We are excited to release a powerful new open-weight language model with reasoning in the coming months,” Altman wrote. The model would allow developers to run it on their own hardware, departing from OpenAI’s cloud-based subscription approach that has driven its revenue.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do,” Altman added.

The announcement coincided with OpenAI securing $40 billion in new funding at a $300 billion valuation — the largest fundraise in the company’s history.

These major developments follow Altman’s admission during a February Reddit Q&A that OpenAI had been ...