My son and I were watching a Malcolm in the Middle marathon recently when, rather than typical detergent or Nissan ads, multiple 30-second spots from Meta popped up. Each advert highlighted the virtues of open source through their Llama LLM and ended with taglines like, “Open source AI. Available to all, not just the few.” The message I took away was: Open Source AI benefits everyone. Llama is Open Source. Llama benefits everyone.
These weren’t your usual niche tech ads (see two examples below)—they were slick, mainstream productions airing during a popular family sitcom. Surprised and puzzled, I did some digging and learned these ads were rolled out at the end of last year and intensified around April and May to coincide with the release of Llama 4 and leveraging the momentum from Llama 3.1.
But is Llama truly open source?
No. The Open Source Initiative (OSI), the definitive authority on open source standards, notes several critical shortfalls:
- Commercial Restrictions: Limit on large-scale commercial use excludes key competitors.
- Redistribution Restrictions: Violates principles of unrestricted redistribution.
- Training Data Not Public: OSI’s AI-specific definition requires open access to training datasets.
- Regional Restrictions: Certain geographic uses (e.g., in the EU) may be prohibited.
Meta can set whatever restrictions they want on their software, but if they impose the above restrictions, Llama doesnt qualify as “open source.”
Do the ends justify the means?
On one hand, Labeling Llama as open source could dilute the definition, opening it up to interpretation and potentially undermining genuine open-source projects. Critics argue this erodes trust, blurs established norms, and disadvantages truly open projects.
On the other hand, there’s a notable benefit: Meta’s mainstream campaign significantly boosts public awareness and portrays open source as beneficial, democratizing technology and driving innovation.
Ultimately, the challenge is balancing the immense public exposure Meta’s Llama TV ads provide to the open source movement against concerns about accurately preserving the open source definition. The key question for the open source community is not whether these TV ads cause harm—they likely don’t—but how to maintain the integrity of what “open source” really means, which in the new world of AI, has become even harder.
Two examples
Meta AI TV Spot, ‘Open Source AI: Everyone Benefits’ (prosthesis)
“Open source AI is an open invitation. To take our model and build amazing things… When AI is open source, it’s available to all, and everyone benefits.
Meta AI TV Spot, ‘Open Source AI: Collaboration’ (start up)
“Open source AI allows universities, researchers, and scientists to collaborate using Meta’s free open-source AI Llama… potentially fast-tracking life-saving medications.”
Extra-credit reading
- ChatGPT-5’s Short-Lived Simplicity: One Week of Clean Design
- OpenAI’s Version Mess and Nutty Pricing Strategy
- AI Is Struggling to Find Use Cases
Pau for now…
Barton's Blog 
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