AI Reports · Stanford HAI · 2026-10-30 · Policy position
Considerations for Governing Open Foundation Models | Stanford HAI
This brief highlights the benefits of open foundation models, which have widely available weights, in combating market concentration, catalyzing innovation, and improving transparency. It argues that the key policy question is their marginal risk relative to closed models or existing technologies, where current evidence is limited. It warns that proposals such as downstream liability and licensing could disproportionately harm open model developers and urges policymakers to weigh unintended consequences.