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Open-Source AI: Free to Use, Tweak, and Share

Open-source AI means the code behind an AI tool is publicly available for anyone to read, copy, modify, and use — usually for free. Think of it like a recipe that the chef publishes online instead of keeping secret. Anyone can follow it, improve it, or make their own version. The opposite is closed-source AI, where a company keeps the code private and you can only use their product on their terms. Open-source AI lets developers build their own versions, spot problems, and avoid being locked into one company's rules or pricing.

Example: Meta released its Llama AI models as open-source. A small startup downloaded the code, tweaked it for medical questions, and deployed it on their own servers — paying nothing to Meta and keeping patient data private.