Open Source at a Crossroad: Future of OSS in the AI Era

Open Source at a Crossroads: Funding, Licensing & the Future of OSS in the AI Era: Open source software (OSS), long hailed as the backbone of innovation and digital infrastructure, is now experiencing a major identity crisis. With rising security concerns, sudden licensing changes, and unequal value distribution, OSS finds itself at a pivotal crossroads.

As cloud-native adoption soars and artificial intelligence (AI) becomes mainstream, the definition, sustainability, and governance of open source are under more scrutiny than ever before.

Open Source Facing a Sustainability Crisis

The global software ecosystem relies heavily on open-source tools, yet many foundational projects operate without sufficient funding or support.

“The effect on our lives if open source disappeared would be incalculable,” warns Ruth Suehle, Executive VP at Apache Software Foundation.

From infrastructure-level tools to libraries used in billion-dollar applications, most OSS projects are maintained by a small number of unpaid or underfunded developers.

The Licensing Dilemma: From Open to Restrictive

A growing number of popular OSS projects — including Terraform, Redis, Elasticsearch, and Linkerd — have adopted more restrictive licenses. These changes aim to prevent large corporations from exploiting open-source work without contributing back.

“Open source today is at a breaking point,” says William Morgan, CEO of Buoyant. “There’s a fundamental inequality between contributors and users.”

While some argue these changes are necessary for sustainability, others fear they threaten the spirit and longevity of the OSS movement.

The AI Challenge: What Does “Open” Mean in the Age of LLMs?

Open Source at a Crossroads as the rise of artificial intelligence, especially open large language models (LLMs), further complicates the definition of open source.

  • AI models often rely on proprietary datasets

  • Licensing doesn’t clearly define ownership of model weights, architecture, or training data

“AI shifts software IP upstream,” explains Philip Rathle, CTO of Neo4j. “We need new frameworks and licenses for this era.”

Projects like GenAI Commons are already working to standardize openness in AI through dedicated licensing models.

OSS Maintainers Under Pressure

Open Source at a Crossroads as OSS maintainers often perform full-time work — including coding, documentation, marketing, and community moderation — without compensation.

“The donation jar model isn’t working,” says AsyncAPI founder Fran Mendez. “Maintainers need stable, paid support.”

Even successful projects like Akka and Linkerd have transitioned to commercial models to survive, despite community backlash.

Open Source at a Crossroads

Security Risks in the Open Source Supply Chain

A vast percentage of modern software contains 70-90% open source components. Poor supply chain management has led to critical vulnerabilities, such as the recent xz Utils backdoor incident.

“Security can’t be an afterthought,” says Dan Lorenc of Chainguard. “SBOMs, secure defaults, and memory-safe languages must become standard.”

Foundations like the Linux Foundation and Apache are crucial in setting these standards and building trust in OSS.

Is the OSS Business Model Broken?

For years, the open source playbook was simple: build something useful, grow a community, and monetize later. But with rising cloud costs, economic uncertainty, and pressure from investors, many startups now question if the model still works.

“We’re at a stage where some companies may abandon OSS altogether,” notes Matt Butcher, CEO of Fermyon.

He suggests a hybrid approach: open source the tools developers need, and monetize features required by large organizations.

Community-Led Governance Is the Way Forward

Foundations like the CNCF and Linux Foundation provide the vendor-neutral governance many developers prefer. Initiatives like AsyncAPI’s donation to Linux Foundation highlight a trend toward shared ownership.

“Collaboration — not just donations — is the key,” says Ruth Suehle. “The industry needs to contribute time, money, and skills.”

This includes moving beyond GitHub sponsors to more structured, enterprise-grade funding models.

A Glimmer of Hope: Open Source in the Age of AI

Despite the turbulence, open source remains vibrant and full of potential. In fact, open-source AI projects are booming, inspiring a new generation of contributors and innovators.

“Open source is thriving in both letter and spirit,” says Rathle. “We just need to protect and evolve it.”

For more stay Connected to our site.