OpenAI ‘on the wrong side of history’: DeepSeek inspires Sam Altman on open-source strategy

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted the company is “on the wrong side of history” on AI transparency on Friday, as DeepSeek’s low-budget, open-source approach has shaken the industry.

Altman’s comments came during an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit where he fielded questions including whether he would consider publishing OpenAI research.

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Altman replied he was in favor of the idea and that it is a topic of discussion inside San Francisco-based OpenAI. “I personally think we have been on the wrong side of history here and need to figure out a different open-source strategy,” Altman said. “Not everyone at OpenAI shares this view, and it’s also not our current highest priority,” he added.

Could the open-source strategy be the future of AI industry?

Chinese AI newcomer DeepSeek has made headlines for its R1 chatbot’s supposed low cost and high performance, but also its claim to be a public-spirited “open-source” project in contrast to closed alternatives from OpenAI and Google. It was only developed with a $5.6 million budget, the China-based start-up had stated.

Open-source refers to the practice of programmers revealing the source code of their software, rather than just the “compiled” program ready to run on a computer. This has clashed with private companies’ pursuit of revenue and intellectual property protection.

Meta, DeepSeek, and France-based AI developer Mistral claim to set themselves apart by allowing developers free access to their tools’ inner workings.

A member of the Reddit group asked Altman whether DeepSeek has changed his plans for future OpenAI models. “It’s a very good model,” Altman said of DeepSeek. “We will produce better models, but we will maintain less of a lead than we did in previous years,” Altman noted.