A landmark research is typically different. A successful product is always better. A popular platform is usually opened for both. Open Source OS is the path forward, and so is Open Source AI.
Product or Platform: Why Not Both?
A friend asked: “I can understand the business of Pixel phones, but what’s the vision for Android, and who cares?” He’s right as far as a consumer’s concern. Indeed, most consumers don’t know, don’t care. To be fair, there are some may know a bit better. But, the power users or tech-savvy geeks, are always a minority. So, why am I still passionate about Android after 15 years?
tl;dr Android is an open platform for developers. The brand actually targets device and app developers rather than regular consumers. For example, Android powers almost all smartphones besides iPhones. Even though I’m not a fan, I do admire Apple for being the best product company and making great iPhones. Nevertheless, I’m glad there are many other choices besides iPhones, such as Samsung, Xiaomi, VIVO, OPPO, etc., thanks to Android. Furthermore, consumers also have many other choices for smartwatches, smart TVs, smart cars, etc. They are also powered by Android.
Let the Bullets Fly for a While
Swetland described the meeting: “We showed the demo we had. Andy was running through the deck. I remember when he got to the monetization thing, Larry cut him off and said ‘Don’t worry about that. I want you guys to build the best possible phone and we’ll figure out the rest later.’” — Androids: The Team That Built The Android Operating System by Chet Haase
A typical business creates and captures value within the same unit. That’s how business has been done for a long time. And therefore, how regulars understand it and laws are based on. But that rule can be banded when brave founders dare to play a long game to pursue an unconventional venture.
They can space out the capturing part to later. Which gives them “unfair advantages.” This has been the playbook of Silicon Valley when the money was cheap, aka, growth at all costs. This is a trick working better for startups/founders. Psst! There’s another less obvious trick: capturing values at the tree tops. Which is the move working better for “800-pound gorillas”. Being huge does not necessary becoming eval by default. Personally, I did see examples holding a high bar of “don’t be eval” day in & day out. They could do amazing impacts, no government nor non-profit can never achieve 🤞.
Leveling the Playing Field — Open AI Actual
Some fundamental layers of innovation are just too important to be controlled by a few elites. Sure, elites can make smarter choices than the majority most of the time. But the cost of them optimizing their own agendas is just too high. Because of that, open source is better than closed alternatives, all other things being equal. Understandable, this is very difficult for any business. As Stanford ECON295/CS323 I 2024 I The Age of AI, Eric Schmidt, Mistral even open source 2 versions of their models, their 3rd model my be closed because it’s so expensive, they need revenue, and they can’t give their model away.
Therefore, thank you, Mark Zuckerberg, Yann LeCun & the team keeping Llama open. Feeling lucky Meta can afford to give their models away for free. In return, no more “nah, you can’t really build that by the platform provider…”. Oh, at least for Mark Zuckerberg 😉. As long as it keeps up open & delivering, I bet there will be much more fruits will come in the ecosystem sooner. So the game is no more zero-sum, and everyone can win in their own way.
