What open means for models: weights, licenses, and the homework of running things yourself. Not a free lunch.
- 1 What open means: weights, license, not a free lunch "Open" in AI is three different claims: open weights you can download, open source under the OSI bar, and a free chat box. This part names the gap, why Llama-style licenses are not MIT, and why local is a control choice, not a free lunch.
- 2 Hosted open models vs download to your machine Hosted open models and a download to your machine are different places for the same weights. This part splits Groq, Together, Fireworks, and chat UIs from Ollama, LM Studio, and llama.cpp, and it flags the trap where one app has a cloud toggle. Scheduled · August 21, 2026