Open-Source AI Models Gain Traction in Corporate America

Corporate America is shifting towards open-source AI models as they become increasingly popular and cost-effective. According to AT&T's chief data and AI officer, Andy Markus, his company has seen a significant increase in the use of open models, which now account for 40% of its AI use. This is up from 20% in May, and could reach 60% in the coming months.

The adoption of open-source AI models is not limited to AT&T alone. Other companies like Airbnb and Deloitte are also turning to these models, which can be downloaded and modified without payment or approval. Open models come in two flavors: open-source models that make their underlying code public, and open-weights models that share only the numerical calculations.

Many of the most popular open AI models are made by Chinese companies like Moonshot AI, DeepSeek, and Alibaba. These models can be powered by a phone or laptop, making them more accessible and cheaper than closed models from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. AT&T is now using open-weights models to customize new tools for call transcription and customer service.

However, some US firms remain reluctant to use Chinese AI models due to concerns over regulation and data privacy. AT&T researches Chinese models but is not currently using them. Instead, it is working with popular alternatives made by US companies like Google and Meta.