The craze for generative artificial intelligence (AI) that began with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT shows no sign of abating. But while large technology companies such as OpenAI and Google have captured the attention of the wider public — and are finding ways to monetize their AI tools — a quieter revolution is being waged by researchers and software engineers at smaller organizations.

Whereas most large technology companies have become increasingly secretive, these smaller actors have stuck to the field’s ethos of openness. They span the spectrum from small businesses and non-profit organizations to individual hobbyists, and some of their activity is motivated by social goals, such as democratizing access to technology and reducing its harms.

Such open-source activity has been “exploding”, says computer scientist Stella Biderman, head of research at EleutherAI, an AI research institute in New York City. This is particularly true for large language models (LLMs), the data-hungry artificial neural networks that power a range of text-oriented software, including chatbots and automated translators. Hugging Face, a New York City-based company that aims to expand access to AI, lists more than 100 open-source LLMs on its website.