2022 Altman Email: Open-Sourcing Small Models to Crush Competitors
Simon Willison · rss · 2026-07-20
Simon Willison cites an October 2022 internal OpenAI email revealed during the Musk v. Altman lawsuit (2026).
In the email, Sam Altman discusses open-source strategy with the board, stating OpenAI plans to swiftly release a model with GPT-3-like capabilities that runs locally on consumer hardware.
Altman admits the strategic defensive purpose: acting before companies like Stability AI to deter others from releasing similar models and making it harder for new competitors to secure funding. This reveals how top AI firms weaponize open source for commercial competition.
More from Companies & People
- Aeon's former EVP: AI agents are the most impactful innovation of my lifetime — akumar · 2026-10-27
- Tesla FSD approved in Latvia, the 10th European country; Musk praises smaller nations for moving fastest — elonmusk · 2026-10-27
- AI creator Eduardo joins Reflection AI to work on open-weights intelligence — bigblueboo · 2026-10-27
- Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees amid soaring AI infrastructure spending — Polymarket · 2026-10-27
- Musk hails Grok Bot as 'incredibly competent chief of staff' as user automates inbox triage — elonmusk · 2026-10-27
- Anthropic S-1 warns of AI job displacement as Microsoft offers exit to ~27% of staff — _jaydeepkarale · 2026-10-27