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Dear Readers,
There’s never a dull moment at OpenUK and the last few weeks have been no exception. Today we publish an opus magnus report, as an overview of AI openness stretching over the 3 years of critical activity and innovation in open source and AI. It doesn’t cover everything, as no report could, but we have carefully selected what we see as the key global technologies, shifts in thinking and policy, to bring you an overview from the release of Meta’s Llama 2 on 18 July 2023 as open innovation through to the release of Moonshot AI Kimi K3, a model challenging the best frontier models on 18 July 2026.
The mutual birthdays of both models are perhaps a coincidence, but of significance in that this is a time-boxed period of evolution at a pace that feels (even for open source) like doggy years – where 7 years of activity have been crammed into each year. China recommitted to its current eight year open source strategy last weekend, which led to the evolution in open models to Kimi K3, and we now await the US response. Should we have waited for this to share the report? Perhaps, but we will cover this in our end of year update and drawing a line under the rollercoaster of the last three years in one document felt right.
The data shows shifts. It has been an evolution in AI where today the agentic harness, infrastructure and Dev Tools are increasingly open source and built by individuals and community. We also see changes in thinking about where ROI will be. This is also reflected in the contributed
- Case Studies – James Drayson, Locai Labs; Rohit Ghumare, Agentmemory; Tom Wilkinson, Scottish Government; Vincent Koc, OpenClaw Foundation
- Thought Leadership – Anastasia Stasenko, Pleias; Hannah Foxwell, BIMP and AI for the rest of us;Karan Saini, OpenUK; Matt Barker, Bolt MCP; Sachiko Muto, Open Forum Europe; Sal Kimmich, Gadfly AI
- And Fireside Chats – Professor Anil Madhavapeddy, University of Cambridge; David Soria Parra, Anthropic
These reports are brought to you by a small research team with big reach into world leaders in AI Openness, which is reflected in the quality of the content. Our research is independent.
The annual survey is now ready for your input, and it includes three firsts: we have created it with our new Economists in Residence, The PSC; it is open to people across the globe; and we have included AI for the first time. This survey creates the data necessary to build an economic calculation of the value of open source. We have been doing this for five years in the UK, and this year we will look to begin the process of data collection in other countries to create comparable research. Much of this will be through OpenHQ, and I am grateful also to Daniel Izquierdio, who has joined our team.
AI Openness: 3 Years on from Llama 2 Report
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A time-boxed report summarising three years of AI openness from the launch of Llama 2 as open innovation on 18 July 2023 to the launch of the frontier open model Kimi K3 on 18 July 2026. We share the what, the how, and the why, including the shift from open source being a technical decision and now being a lever of influence and soft power, as well as why the UK should have its own Foundation. Delving into what the data and third-party reporting tells us about the technology and market shifts, and a synopsis of key global policy, all with a slant on AI openness. Report includes:
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Annual Open Source Survey 2026
We need your help!
Please give 30 minutes to complete the “Annual Open Source Survey 2026” created in conjunction with the PSC.
Our survey seeks to map the economic impact of open source software and open AI in the UK and beyond.
Open to all, wherever in the world you are, and includes AI for the first time.
We use the concept of eight “actors” – from user to creator – and ask you to answer questions relevant to your role as said actor. This approach is new – and exciting – and you can learn more about it in our blog post. If you feel that there is something in relation to how we conceive actors that we should think differently about, please feel free to reach out to us to help improve our work in the future. We will send a separate email with details about the survey, and hope you will be able to provide responses and circulate it within the communities you are active in.
SOOCon26 On The Road – Belfast
Belfast is the next stop as we take SOOCon on the Road in 2026. We will be there on 6 October, thanks to Ulster Bank for providing the venue.
We will run a short CFP for content and are looking for volunteer staff to support this event. So get involved and buy your ticket, volunteer or suggest some content.
Cambridge and Bristol dates later this year TBC.
State of Open Con returns to London in 2027 and will take place on 9-10 February in central London. CFP and ticket sales will open in the autumn.
Agentic and Finance Meet Up with Infosys
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Our first meet-up post-summer will take place in Infosys’ offices in Canary Wharf and focus on the evolution and deployment of agentic technologies in the Finance sector.
Speakers will be announced shortly. Thanks to Infosys for sponsoring. |
OpenUK 7th Annual Awards, 2026
OpenUK’s 7th Annual Awards will launch this month. They form part of a UK-focused, world-leading Recognition Program for Open Technology and are widely recognised as the “Oscars of Open Source”. This year’s ceremony will be on 5 November at the House of Commons and will be a Black-Tie Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony.
The awards span software, hardware, data, and AI and sit at the intersection of technology and business, and you can self-nominate or nominate a third party.
Our 2026 judges, Laura Czsjkowski, Kunal Kushwaha, and May Cheung, are looking forward to your nominations. The awards will be hosted in November and hosted by Chi Onwurah MP at the iconic House of Commons. The nominations for the awards will open up this week, so stay tuned for the announcement!
Other Upcoming Events
- Rising Ambassador Launch, Civo Tech Junction, 10 September – to request to attend this closed group event mailto:admin@openuk.uk
- Space Tech Radar in association with Thoughtworks, Launch, Field Fisher, Swan Lane, London, 29 October
- AI Policy Day, Field Fisher, Swan Lane, London, 24 November
Press
- Can open source help deliver sovereign AI? Published by Christine Horton for Think Digital Partners, 18 June.
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Our Sovereignty Roundtable is written up by Resultsense based on the article by Christine Horton for Think Digital Partners, featuring CEO Professor Amanda Brock, highlighting the over-conflation of terminology and the need for clarity, as well as open source. Published by Resultsense, 19 June.
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Palantir’s NHS data deal called in for a second opinion. Published by The Register, 15 June.
- Prince William charity and Salesforce working on homelessness refers to SOOCon24 content. Published by Computer Weekly, 10 June.
- AI Minister Kanishka Narayan – government support for open-source AI disappoints CEO Amanda Brock, as it wont build what is needed for the UK to lead. Published by Computing, 10 June.
- Our recent Sovereignty Roundtable highlighted the UK tech strategy failings and opportunities including open source and collaboration which the UK must grab now, to manage collaboration in a world focused on sovereignty according to. Published by John Leonard of Computing, 22 June.
- Will AI ring the death knell for open source? CEO of OpenUK, Amanda Brock, tells ITPro that the industry is still grappling with AI as a novel force and different projects are handling it in different ways. Published by ITPro, 9 July.
Events OpenUK will be at
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Events of Interest
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That’s all for this edition, and I think you will agree that it’s enough.
We will be taking a bit of a break in August and hope that you will use the break to take our survey and share this with colleagues and friends. The data’s critical, and without your help this work would not be possible.
If you would like to get involved or your organisation might be interested in sponsorship, do please drop a note to mailto:admin@openuk.uk.
Best wishes,
Amanda
Professor Amanda Brock,
CEO OpenUK and OpenHQ
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