Proposed Reddit Rule to Tag AI Models Lacking Publicly Released Weights
A user on the r/LocalLLaMA subreddit has proposed a new rule requiring posts about AI models announced as "open" but lacking downloadable weights to be tagged with "[no weights]". This proposal comes in response to companies announcing models but delaying or withholding the actual model weights. This proposal highlights the growing frustration within the local LLM community regarding "open-washing," where companies market models as open-source or open-weights without actually providing the files needed to run them locally. Clear tagging would help users filter out models they cannot run immediately. The proposal suggests using a title tag like "[no weights]" rather than a post flair, as it is more visible on the Reddit homepage. This addresses cases where weights are promised but delayed by weeks, or not released at all.
## BACKGROUND
In machine learning, model weights are the parameters that determine how a model processes input and makes predictions. "Open weights" models allow users to download these parameters to run and customize the model locally, which is distinct from traditional open-source software where the full training code and data are also provided.