Today's cutting-edge big models are supported by two main inputs: computing and data. Based on “convergence theory”, the Internet has effectively splintered into a handful of closed ecosystems, and these barriers have been reinforced by 20 years of sustained investment, leading to monopolized cash flows and the huge data sets needed to dominate the smart age. There has perhaps never been a better opportunity for a few to centralize power; a global economy of consumers, businesses and even governments, underpinned by a number of increasingly powerful foundational models, run by a few at the top of the heap.

However, what goes around comes around, and a group of people are already rallying in response: a coalition of developers, investors, and users determined to pry AI from the iron grip of the big tech companies and paint a vision of user-centered intelligence.