AI, Hardware and Open Models: Headed in the Linux Direction
From the 1960s onwards, IBM’s mainframe systems started the era of proprietary hardware and software, which trickled into the PC era. In the early 1990s, Linux broke that chokehold, emerging as an open source alternative for those tired of proprietary operating systems and hardware.
The AI market is traveling the same path, but the surroundings are different. Open AI models on the rise are shaking up the AI market, breaking a stranglehold of proprietary models running on proprietary hardware.
Cloud providers, including Google and Amazon, are rushing to put open models on their proprietary chips. That’s because consumers of AI models want lower cost and flexibility associated with open AI LLMs. The trend aligns with how Linux grew to now run most of the internet.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO of Axelera, an AI hardware company.