Open(ish) Machine Learning News
Updates on the intersection of ML and open.

Latest

Mar
09
Person leaning forward to grab lightning bolts, generated vaguely in the style of an art deco propaganda poster.

all this power / 2024-03-09

Getting angry about Senator Vance’s call for… open? and some good examples of what smart open could look like.
8 min read
Feb
15
Small boat anchored in a rocky inlet. Style is of vaguely asian watercolors. Generated by Midjourney.

Tides will ebb and flow / 2024-02-15

Highlights from recent news, including a few interesting new true-open models but lots of negative signs from other quarters of the open/AI culture wars.
7 min read
Jan
23
A graffiti-style mural of a fish with a cat’s head, djing at a turntable.

OpenML.fyi in 2024

Responsible licensing and non-consensual pornography; new open-ish Pile coming; and how openml.fyi will evolve in 2024.
5 min read
Dec
06
Santa, wearing sunglasses, asleep in a mix of palm trees and holly bushes, in a slightly abstract watercolor style. Via mid

Deck the halls / 2023-12-06

Many small notes, plus three long-simmering micro-essays—two on OpenAI and Facebook, and one on how the switch from public licenses to 1:1 contracts might impact open.
9 min read
Oct
29
A man sick in bed, like me. Via midjourney

Blergh (viral and regulatory) / 2023-10-29

Lots of links on the state of regulation, the recent transparency report, and more.
5 min read
Oct
19
A fantastically carved jackolantern, next to an unnatural/clearly-AI-generated pumpkin vine. Via midjourney.

Ghosts in the machine / 2023-10-19

So much news, so little time.
7 min read
Aug
20
A bearded man in a suit, holding a scepter, in front of a town. After the style of the engraved frontispiecHobbes’ Leviathan.

Is this thing on? / 2023-08-20

Catching up on power, Facebook, and a range of miscellany.
9 min read
Jun
15
1800s shopkeeper, seen from behind, looking at their store with shelves full of goods

Taking stock of open(ish) machine learning / 2023-06-15

I’ve been writing this newsletter for about six months, so I thought it might be a good time to pause the news firehose, and instead review and synthesize what I’ve learned about the potential for open(ish?) machine learning. That took a while — so thanks for your patience, and welcome back!
15 min read
May
02
A man wearing a suit and hat, speaking into an old-fashioned microphone, taken from behind. Black and white.

Maps and Legends / 2023-05-02

Micro-essays on the commons and model copyrightability; new open(ish) tools; and a lot more.
6 min read
Apr
19
Sailboats in front of a church, with trees and birds, in the style of a pencil sketch.

Live from Sweden / 2023-04-19

Upcoming public panel moderation; shifting power via foundation models (open or not); public ability to understand via great WaPo visualization; modularity; and more.
5 min read