Google engineer warns it could lose out to open-source technology in AI race

One of Google's engineers has cautioned the business that it may not be able to win the battle against AI and may end up falling behind already existing AI technology.

Google had "a lot of looking over our shoulders at OpenAI," the business that created the ChatGPT chatbot, according to a document from a Google engineer that was published online.

However, the employee, who was named by Bloomberg as a senior software engineer, claimed that neither business was in a position to succeed.

"The uncomfortably painful fact is that neither OpenAI nor we are positioned to win this weapons race. A third faction has been stealthily devouring our meal while we've been arguing, the engineer wrote.

The engineer continued by claiming that the "third faction" that posed a danger to Google and OpenAI was the open-source community.

Developers of open-source software do not own ownership rights to their creations; instead, they make them available for anyone to use, enhance, or otherwise modify. The Linux operating system and LibreOffice, a competitor to Microsoft Office, are two classic instances of open-source work.

The Google engineer claimed that open-source AI developers were "already lapping us," citing examples such as tools built on a sizable language model created by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta that the company made available in February on a "noncommercial" and case-by-case basis but which were then leaked online shortly thereafter.

According to the document, the entrance barrier to developing AI models has decreased since Meta's LLaMA model was made freely available. It is now possible for anyone with a powerful laptop, an evening, and a single person to develop an AI model.

Sites providing open-source approaches for creating visual art were also highlighted in the text. The underlying models of Chat GPT and Google's Bard chatbot, in comparison, are neither shared nor made public.

"The quality gap is closing incredibly quickly, although our models still have a tiny advantage. According to Google employees, open-source approaches are more efficient, adaptable, private, and powerful pound-for-pound.

The engineer continued to caution that the business had "no secret sauce" and that "our best hope is to learn from and collaborate with what others are doing outside Google," adding that customers would not pay for a constrained AI model when "free, unrestricted alternatives are comparable in quality."

The EU was cautioned this week, nevertheless, that failing to safeguard community-based AI research in its pending AI legislation might impede the distribution of open-source models. Any restrictions forcing developers to monitor or regulate the use of their work "could make it impossible to release open-source AI in Europe," according to an open letter to the European parliament organised by the German research organization Large-scale AI Open Network (Laion).

Such limitations, according to the Laion letter, "entrench large firms" and "hinder efforts to improve transparency, reduce competition, limit academic freedom, and drive investment in AI overseas."

A review of the AI market was started by the UK's competition authority on Thursday, concentrating on the generative AI tools ChatGPT, Bard, and the picture generator Stable Diffusion's underlying models. To continue AI innovation, "open, competitive markets" are needed, according to the Competition and Marketplaces Authority.

SemiAnalysis, a consultancy, claimed to have "verified" the authenticity of the Google engineer's document after it was distributed on a public server of the Discord chat application. The document was published online by SemiAnalysis.

Although Google has been asked for comment, it is known that the document is not a business message that has been approved by management. As requested by Bloomberg, The Guardian has also gotten in touch with the engineer.

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