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

Featured articles

My commons roller coaster / 2024-10-10

My commons roller coaster / 2024-10-10

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

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

Latest

Oct
10
Sepia-tone picture of a store window, with a sign above saying “BATES & HUNTS CHEMISTS”

My commons roller coaster / 2024-10-10

In which I both celebrate and mourn the data commons.
6 min read
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