Zeev Farbman is cofounder and CEO at Lightricks, a pioneer in innovative technology that bridges the gap between imagination and creation.
Today’s tech landscape presents companies with a critical choice: Protect their innovations behind walled gardens or share their technology to catalyze broader innovation.
This choice becomes clear when we consider the transformative potential of open-source collaboration to drive progress not just for individual companies but for the entire AI ecosystem. Accessible, transparent and collaboratively driven, open-source models from challenger tech brands are taking on major AI players that keep their models closed or limited. Sharing technology fosters innovation in ways that proprietary systems do not.
The recent success of DeepSeek, which built a powerful AI model with what it claimed was a fraction of the typical computing resources, could underscore the potential of open-source AI to drive efficiency and innovation in unexpected ways.
When we released our LTX Video GenAI model to the open-source community in November, we weren’t sure how it would react to our contribution. After all, AI models require substantial resources to develop—data, computing power and expertise that go far beyond the reach of most amateur developers. Would the community accept our release as genuine or view the release as a veiled attempt to sway it? We certainly hoped for the former.
The fact is that open-source models provide a different kind of benefit: increased innovation. When the community builds on top of these models, companies can benefit from the ideas and skills of researchers and developers worldwide—advancing technology in new and unexpected ways, giving smaller players a serious competitive edge.
Fostering Innovation Through Accessibility
Open-source models provide a platform for developers, researchers and even hobbyists to experiment and innovate. For example, when Meta released its Llama models, developers worldwide created novel applications and improvements that far exceeded initial expectations. The contributions from the open community pleasantly surprised us when we released our model. It inspired our engineers to refine and improve our approach to future iterations.
Open-source access enables these kinds of breakthroughs by inviting diverse perspectives and use cases. It removes financial and technical barriers, enabling a diverse range of contributors to create new solutions. DeepSeek’s use of the “mixture of experts” method demonstrates how rethinking traditional AI development can significantly reduce costs while maintaining high-quality performance, reinforcing the advantages of open-source collaboration.
Building Trust Through Transparency
AI’s “black box” problem undermines trust and limits adoption, particularly in sensitive or regulated industries. Open-source models address this by making their workings visible and verifiable. Transparency fosters confidence, allowing enterprises to adapt and deploy AI solutions with full knowledge of their capabilities and limitations.
Open methodologies can not only lower costs but also accelerate the pace of AI development, making cutting-edge models more accessible to a broader range of companies. More importantly, they redefine what profit looks like in the AI industry—moving beyond dollar signs to impact and long-term sustainability. Open-source models invite scrutiny by enabling third parties to validate and improve upon their frameworks, fostering trust and reliability in the process.
The Responsibility Of Leadership
As leaders in the AI space, we’re obligated to balance innovation with ethical considerations. Open-source AI promotes accountability by allowing external audits and fostering a culture of transparency. It’s not just about driving business outcomes; it’s about ensuring AI serves humanity in responsible and equitable ways.
By embracing open-source AI, companies are not giving away their competitive edge; they’re amplifying it through the collective intelligence of a global network. Even companies that cannot fully commit to open-sourcing entire models can contribute by sharing tools, datasets, frameworks or model components—small contributions that fuel breakthroughs and attract top-tier talent.
This approach exemplifies how collaboration and inclusivity can drive innovation while fostering a shared vision for a more connected and equitable tech future, and technology and software business leaders need to understand the amazing potential of working in an open environment.
The future of AI is open, collaborative and transparent. As DeepSeek’s success illustrates, the companies that embrace openness and efficiency will set the pace for the next wave of AI innovation. We’re excited to see where this journey leads—not just for Lightricks but for the entire tech industry.
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