I don't think anyone is too surprised by the fact that OpenAI went closed. As ironic as it may be, it was pretty obviously the only way they were going to continue to exist.
On the other hand, it definitely underscores:
- How blatantly companies exploit the "open source" concept with no remorse or even tacit acknowledgement; for many startups, open source is a great way to buy some goodwill and get some customers, then once they have what they want, close the doors and start asking for rent money. Nothing wrong with doing closed source or commercial software, but would OpenAI still have gained relevance if they hadn't started the way they did with the name they did?
- How little anyone gives a shit; we all watched it happen, but apparently nobody really cares enough. Investors, customers, the general public, apparently all is fair in making money.
I'm not suggesting OpenAI is especially evil, definitely not. In fact, the most depressing thing is that doing this sort of bait and switch mechanic is so commonplace and accepted now that it wasn't news or even interesting. It's just what we expect. Anything for a dollar.
But maybe I still seem like I'm just being whiny. Okay, fair enough. But look at what's happening now; OpenAI wants heavy regulation on AI, particularly they want to curtail and probably just ban open source models, through whatever proxy necessary, using whatever tactics are needed to scare people into it. They may or may not get what they want, but I'm going to guess that if they do get it, ~nobody will care, and OpenAI will be raking in record profits while open source AI technology gets pushed underground.
Oh I'd love to be wrong, but then again, it's not like there's anything particularly novel about this strategy. It's basically textbook at this point.