Open-source communities and AI developers have been in a state of heightened collaboration in recent years. The dialogue between these two industries has expanded, fostering a mutual understanding of each other’s domains.

The open-source community isn’t sitting on the sidelines. Industry experts are actively engaging and collaborating with AI-focused foundations. At this week’s Open Source Summit in Vancouver, Canada, developers, technologists and community leaders collaborated on open-source innovation.

“It was a great week of advancement in many different areas,” said theCUBE guest analyst Rob Strechay (pictured, right). “Some of the keynotes were about how they’re embracing other foundations that are bringing more AI to the table.”

Strechay and analyst John Furrier (left) discussed the evolving role of open source in the age of AI, the increasing focus on security, the shift toward platform engineering, and the potential of open source ecosystems to drive innovation, at this week’s Open Source Summit NA, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio.

Tackling security challenges in open source

Security has always been a critical issue for the open-source community. Significant strides are being made to elevate open source’s security protocols. The discussions this week have been particularly focused on the intricacies of authorization, the implementation of various security features and the need for more than just a checkbox approach to security.

“Log4j really was an eye-opening moment for this community,” Strechay said. “I think it also brings the specter of potential regulation. And if you don’t police yourself, somebody else is going to do it for you.”

The future of open source is being shaped by a new generation of developers that is navigating the complexities of cloud-native technologies. They are guided by an understanding of automation and the value of combining human insight with AI capabilities.

“People are pragmatic and optimistic about it,” Furrier said. “They understand automation, understand the value. Human plus AI is better than AI by itself.”

Open source and energy sustainability

The relationship between open-source software and energy sustainability is another area that’s gaining attention. Open-source solutions are increasingly being seen as a key driver for powering grids and managing energy consumption.

“Large language models are a potential energy problem,” said Furrier, adding that a huge part of this week’s discussions was about “sustainability around how open-source software is powering grids and the energy piece of it.”

Cloud-native apps are enabling the agility needed to manage the power requirements of industrial internet of things. This development is a big “aha” moment for the industry, Furrier added.

Open-source contributions in the corporate world

The corporate world is not just consuming open source; it’s also making significant contributions to the community. Companies like Fidelity and Discover, guests on theCUBE this week, are not only using open source, but are contributing back to it, setting an example for other corporations to follow.

“It’s been great to see that they’re all getting involved and they’re bringing an open-source mentality back to their companies,” Strechay said. “They’re not just talking about it or consuming it; they’re actually contributing back. That type of giving back is super important.”

As open-source continues to evolve, the dialogue between the open-source community, AI developers and corporate contributors will likely deepen, fostering more innovation and progress in the years to come.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Open Source Summit NA:

Photo: SiliconANGLE