Abstract

After years in which many developments in artificial intelligence systems were the outcome of scientific research and were made available under free licences, the recent success of some generative artificial intelligence systems, which were developed using large computing capacities and quantities of data, leads to the question whether conditions are emerging in which a few players will be able to provide artificial intelligence systems, concentrating economic (but not only) power. But the development of artificial intelligence systems continues. Policies are therefore useful that, by exploiting the regulatory framework (favourable to the development of transparent systems and to the scientific research), make data and computing resources available to researchers in order to foster the free availability, study and understanding of artificial intelligence systems.To achieve this, it is certainly useful to make use of the methods already adopted for free software (which, on the one hand, have led to the generation of digital commons and, on the other, are usefully employed by companies). But this is not enough: artificial intelligence systems do not consist of software alone and require computing and data resources. It is supportive of the European regulatory framework which allows it to adopt policies that enhance the scientific research in the development of artificial intelligence systems thus balancing fundamental rights with conflicting objectives: freedom of enterprise, freedom of scientific research and protection of personal data.