Connect with us

Business

Why going open-source is crucial to ensure competition in AI

Published

on



DeepSeek has made open-source cool again. The Chinese startup’s decision to use open-source frameworks to achieve sophisticated reasoning has shaken up the AI ecosystem: Since then, Baidu has made its ERNIE model open-source, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said he thinks his non-open source company may be on the “wrong side of history.”

There are now two distinct paradigms in the AI sector: the closed ecosystems promoted by giants like OpenAI and Microsoft, versus the open-source platforms championed by companies like Meta and Mistral.

This is more than just a technical debate. Open vs. closed is a fundamental debate about AI’s future and who will control the new technology’s vast potential as a trillion-dollar industry takes shape.

Lessons from history

Every software revolution has been, at its heart, a struggle between open and closed systems.

In the mainframe era, IBM and its closed system dominated, prompting the aphorism: “Nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM.” But as technology matured, businesses turned to open systems that freed them from vendor constraints.

This cycle happened again and again. Open-source Linux challenged Microsoft Windows. PostgreSQL and MySQL became an alternative to Oracle’s databases.

Vendor lock-in, where switching providers becomes nearly impossible, stifles innovation, limits agility, and creates vulnerability. Those same risks will only increase as AI is increasingly integrated into critical business processes.

Open platforms mitigate those risks, allowing organizations to change vendors or bring solutions in-house without incurring crippling costs.

Why open source matters

Consumers may enjoy the convenience of a closed platform. Yet enterprises have different priorities. Organizations can’t send sensitive data and proprietary information through black box APIs that they don’t control.

Open-source AI models offer three critical advantages.

First, open models keep sensitive information within an organization’s infrastructure, reducing the risk of data breaches from interactions with an external server.

Second, enterprises can tailor open-source models to their unique needs, fine-tuning models with their proprietary data without being constrained by a closed system.

Finally, organizations can avoid scaling fees charged by vendors by deploying open-source models on their own infrastructure.

Closed platforms may be simple, but they don’t provide the safety, flexibility and low costs of an open-source model.

Ironically, OpenAI’s rise was built on open-source foundations. The “Attention Is All You Need” paper released by Google in 2017 provided the blueprint for modern language models. Yet, despite this foundation, OpenAI has shifted from its initial open-source ethos to a more closed model, raising questions about its commitment to ensuring that AI benefits “all of humanity.”

Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI has rapidly positioned the tech giant at the forefront of the commercial AI landscape. With over $13 billion invested, Microsoft has integrated GPT-4 across its ecosystem—from Azure to Office applications via Copilot, GitHub, and Bing—creating a powerful lock-in effect for businesses that rely on these tools.

Historically, closed AI systems have dominated through brute-force strategies: Scaling data, parameters, and computing power to dominate the market and create barriers to entry.

Yet, a new paradigm is emerging: the reasoning revolution. Models like DeepSeek’s R1 demonstrate that sophisticated reasoning capabilities can rival proprietary systems that depend on sheer scale. Reasoning is a Trojan horse for open-source AI, challenging the competitive landscape by proving that algorithmic advancements can diminish the advantages held by closed platforms.

This opens up a crucial opportunity for smaller labs and startups. Open-source AI fosters collective innovation at a fraction of the cost associated with closed systems, democratizing access and encouraging contributions from a wider range of participants.

Currently, the traditional AI value chain is dominated by a few players in hardware (Nvidia), model development (OpenAI, Anthropic) and infrastructure (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform). This has created significant barriers to entry, due to high capital and compute requirements.

But new innovations, like optimized inference engines and specialized hardware, are dismantling this monolithic structure.

The AI stack is becoming unbundled in this new ecosystem. Companies like Groq are challenging Nvidia in hardware. (Groq is one of Race Capital’s portfolio companies.) Smaller labs like Mistral have built creative models that can compete with OpenAI and Anthropic. Platforms like Hugging Face are democratizing access to models. Inference services like Fireworks and Together are reducing latency and increasing throughput of requests. Alternative cloud marketplaces, such as Lambda Labs and Fluidstack, offer competitive pricing with the Big Three oligopoly.

Balancing open vs. closed

Of course, open-source models bring their own risks. Training data could be misappropriated. Malicious actors could develop harmful applications, like malware or deepfakes. Companies, too, may cross ethical boundaries by using personal data without authorization, sacrificing data privacy in pursuit of competitive advantage.

Strategic governance measures can help mitigate these risks. Delaying releases of frontier models could give time for security assessments. Partial weight sharing could also limit the potential for misuse, while still providing research benefits.

The future of AI rests on the ability to balance these competing interests—much like how AI systems themselves balance weights and biases for optimal performance.

The choice between going open or closed represents more than just preference. It’s a pivotal decision that will determine the trajectory of the AI revolution. We must choose frameworks that encourage innovation, inclusivity, and ethical governance. Going open-source will be the way to achieve that.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Trump tariffs could help clear the way for bigger tax cuts as Congress eyes a potential revenue windfall — and a shrinking economy

Published

on



  • President Donald Trump’s much higher-than-anticipated tariffs have crushed stocks but could raise a substantial amount of revenue, while shrinking the economy in the process. The import taxes could generate $700 billion a year in revenue. That could help clear the way in Congress for bigger income tax cuts, though the tariffs would also be the equivalent of a massive tax hike on consumers.

Wall Street suffered a massive case of sticker shock when President Donald Trump unveiled his latest round of tariffs on “Liberation Day,” wiping out $6 trillion in market cap.

But the flip side of the much higher-than-anticipated duties is a potential revenue windfall that could help clear the way for getting bigger tax cuts passed in Congress.

Lawmakers have already taken a key step toward that end. Early Saturday morning, Senate Republicans approved a framework to extend Trump’s tax cuts from his first term, add new cuts like ending taxes on Social Security income, and slash spending.

Some fiscal conservatives in the GOP have balked at the massive deficits and debt more tax cuts could bring. But economists at Citi Research said in a note on Thursday that the aggressive tariffs “may now become a justification for larger tax cuts.”

It’s unclear if tariffs will remain as high as announced (Chinese imports face a 54% levy) or for how long, as Trump has suggested he is open to negotiating rates lower while his authority for imposing them could also face legal challenges.

But for now, they could provide political cover for lawmakers to push through tax cuts on Capitol Hill.

“So long as tariffs remain in place, the administration can also point to the around $700bln in annualized revenue they would raise assuming unchanged trade deficits,” Citi said. “Treasury Secretary Bessent suggested yesterday that that could be used to offset new individual tax cuts. That might be an argument used to win over fiscal conservatives and is also consistent with prior administration statements that the tariff revenue will be redistributed to the American people.”

Tax cuts could help ease the impact that tariffs will have on the economy, which is increasingly seen slipping into recession.

On Friday, JPMorgan analysts said they expect GDP to shrink by 0.3% this year, reversing a prior view for an expansion of 1.3%. The unemployment rate is also seen climbing to 5.3% from the current level of 4.2%.

A separate analysis from the Tax Foundation also estimated the costs and benefits of Trump’s tariffs.

It found that when the new duties are added to the already-announced ones, the tariffs will reduce GDP by 0.7% and raise nearly $2.9 trillion in revenue over the next decade. Foreign retaliation will shrink GDP by another 0.1%.

The tariffs will also reduce after-tax income by an average of 1.9% and equate to an average tax increase of more than $1,900 per US household in 2025, according to the Tax Foundation.

Meanwhile, estimates vary on the effective tariff rate. The Tax Foundation put it at 16.5% and said tariffs will increase federal tax revenues by $258.4 billion in 2025, or 0.85% of GDP, representing the largest tax hike since 1982.

But Fitch Ratings estimated that the overall effective tariff rate will be about 25%—the highest since 1909—up from its prior estimate of an 18% rate and more than 10 times last year’s rate of 2.3%. Citi said it’s above 25%.

In a note on Thursday, JPMorgan chief economist Bruce Kasman called the tariffs the biggest tax increase since the Revenue Act of 1968, which preceded the 1969-70 recession, and sounded doubtful that they could be sufficiently offset by income tax cuts.

“The effect of this tax hike is likely to be magnified—through retaliation, a slide in US business sentiment, and supply chain disruptions,” he wrote. “The shock is likely to be only modestly dampened by the flexibility tariff hikes afford for further fiscal policy easing.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

How to watch the Final Four of March Madness 2025 for free—and without cable

Published

on



There may be no Cinderella stories in 2025’s March Madness tournament, but you can’t argue that the strongest schools aren’t in the semifinals.

Regardless of who wins Saturday’s games, a No. 1 seeded school will walk away with the NCAA Championship this year. All four teams in the Final Four are top seeds of their division.

Does that take away some of the drama? Perhaps. But does it guarantee hard-fought games? Absolutely.

Here’s when and where the Final Four games will be airing and ways to watch for free, without a cable subscription.

When and where do Final Four games of March Madness 2025 air?

Here’s when and where you can catch this year’s semifinal games- as well as the final.

Final Four

April 5

Florida vs. Auburn, 6:09 p.m. on CBS

Houston vs. Duke, 8:49 p.m. on CBS

NCAA championship game

April 7 – The champion will be decided on Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS.

How can I watch March Madness games for free?

Since CBS is the host for the Final Four, you can watch without a cable subscription. All you need is a good HD antenna. To ensure you’re getting the most reliable signal for the CBS-carried games, you’ll want to test the antenna in multiple locations in your home.

Can I stream the Final Four online?

Absolutely!  And there are plenty of options.

Paramount+

CBS’s streaming service will give you a one-week free trial, followed by a $8 or $13 monthly charge.

Hulu with Live TV

The free trial on this service lasts three days. Afterward, it will cost you $77 per month.

YouTubeTV

After a free trial, you can expect monthly charges of $73.

DirecTV Stream

Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T TVNow and AT&T TV, this oft-renamed streaming service will run you $80 per month and up after the free trial option.

Fubo TV

This sports-focused cord-cutting service carries broadcast networks in most markets. There’s a seven-day free trial, followed by monthly charges of $80 and up, depending on the channels you choose.

Does the NCAA offer any service for me to watch the Final Four?

It does. March Madness Live has streamed every game on the NCAA Website, as well as Apple, Android, Amazon and Roku devices and will continue to do so with the Final Four. You’ll need to log in with your username and password from your TV provider.

Can I watch any March Madness games on Amazon?

No. NCAA Tournament games do not stream on Amazon.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Warren Buffett keeps taking investors to school as stock meltdown reveals the uncanny wisdom of his recent moves 

Published

on



  • The stock market crash triggered by President Donald Trump’s global tariffs brought Warren Buffett’s investment moves over the past year into a fresh light, underscoring his prudence amid the once-raging bull market. His decision last year to shed most of Berkshire Hathaway’s Apple stock now looks especially well timed.

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett’s investment moves over the past year now seem uncannily well timed in the wake of the stock market meltdown caused by President Donald Trump’s global tariffs.

In the last two trading sessions alone, the S&P 500 crashed 10%, and the broad market index is down 17% from its mid-February peak. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell 2000 are in bear market territory, having tumbled more than 20% from their recent highs.

Since Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement on Wednesday, US stocks have lost more than $6 trillion in market cap in the worst selloff since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as Wall Street prices in a tariff-induced US recession.

But Buffett appeared to anticipate a market downturn coming. Berkshire sold $134 billion in equities in 2024—when the bull market was still raging—and was sitting on a record $334 billion cash pile at year’s end. That’s nearly double from a year earlier and more than its shrinking stock portfolio of $272 billion.

The famously value-oriented investor has also been complaining for years that valuations were too high and has held off on using his cash on major acquisitions due to a lack of bargains.

Most of Berkshire’s cash is in short-term Treasury bills, which not only offer shelter from the storm but also provide the conglomerate a tidy gain that Buffett noted in his most recent letter to shareholders.

“We were aided by a predictable large gain in investment income as Treasury Bill yields improved and we substantially increased our holdings of these highly-liquid short-term securities,” he wrote in February.

In addition to what he bought, what he sold also stands out, given the market crash.

Last year, Berkshire slashed its Apple stake by about two-thirds, representing the bulk of the company’s equity sales, though the iPhone maker remains its largest stock holding.

Those stock sales, which came in the first three quarters of the year, also occurred while Apple was still on the rise, with shares peaking in late December.

But since that peak, Apple has collapsed 28% as US tariffs on China are expected to hit especially hard. That’s because Apple, like many tech companies, relies on China for parts and manufacturing.

With Trump’s latest round of tariffs, imports from China now face a 54% duty. And if the administration follows through on its threat to impost a “secondary tariff” on countries that buy oil from Venezuela, the rate could hit 79%.

Meanwhile, Berkshire has also been offloading shares of Bank of America and Citigroup. Shares of both banking giants are down about 22% so far this year.

By contrast, Berkshire’s class B shares are up 9% this year, though they have taken a modest hit this past week. The wide array of its businesses, such as insurance, rail, and energy, are mostly focused on the US and less exposed to imports.

As a result, Buffett’s personal fortune has grown this year, unlike those of his peers. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth has expanded by $12.7 billion this year to give him a total of $155 billion, putting him at No. 6 on the list and essentially tying him with Bill Gates, whose own fortune shrank by $3.38 billion.

Elon Musk remains No. 1 with $302 billion, though that’s down by $130 billion in 2025, followed by Jeff Bezos with $193 billion, down by $45.2 billion.

As Buffett watchers wait to see if the recent market crash will finally induce him to make a big acquisition or stock purchase, his February letter may offer a clue.

“Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities—mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance,” he wrote. “Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.