As India prepares to host the next Global AI Summit in early 2026, this Birds of a Feather session invites open source contributors, AI researchers, digital rights advocates, and tech sector participants to come together and co-develop community recommendations on AI governance.
Much of the current discourse around “open source AI” focuses on licensing, but leaves critical gaps in transparency, access to training data, and model documentation — raising concerns about open-washing and the hollowing out of true openness. This BoF will create space for participants to explore:
What should true open source AI look like in practice — beyond licensing to data, models, and documentation?
How can India’s FOSS and tech communities contribute to policy frameworks that advance responsible, rights-respecting AI at home and globally?
How can community-driven AI projects serve as alternatives to proprietary, closed models — especially for the Global South?
Session goals
Crowdsource recommendations that India’s FOSS and tech communities can bring to the 2026 Global AI Summit.
Identify shared priorities for openness, transparency, and accountability in AI development.
Build connections between open source contributors, tech companies, and policy advocates around AI governance.
This BoF is designed to be highly interactive - participants will collaborate in small groups, share perspectives, and help draft initial ideas that could inform broader national and global discussions on AI policy from the perspective of FOSS community
Participants will help co-develop community-informed policy recommendations that India can champion at the global level—including licensing norms, open model infrastructure, and public funding principles. This session seeks to bring together diverse voices across civil society, tech, and FOSS communities to shape the future of AI governance.