Ben Brooks

Policy @bfl_ml. Affiliate @BKCHarvard. ex-Stability AI (weights), GoogleX (drones), Uber (rides), Coinbase (magic beans). Views my own

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Nearly every AI firm is invoking frontier risk to justify a persistent gap between open and closed models. But this application of the precautionary principle deserves more scrutiny than it gets.

Restricting access to useful technology—models that will, in their developers' own words, transform the economy—shouldn't be our primary response to uncertain risks.

Check it out at @aif_media! There are already a bunch of reasons firms might not release their best models openly: cost recovery, competitive pressure, anxious investors. But we should be skeptical of efforts to freeze open-source behind the frontier under the guise of risk.

[AI Frontiers @ai_frontiers_]

https://t.co/vsYV2OFZsT

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@OpenAI https://t.co/0iaWpMQ4ac

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Glad to see the distinction between model evaluation with & without pre-clearance is becoming clearer in industry advocacy, eg. @OpenAI's paper today.

These are very different propositions. Conflating the two is why earlier proposals floundered (e.g. mandatory UKAISI testing).

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Story by @brooksbarnesNYT https://t.co/1iUL8R40Tu

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Delighted that Martin Scorsese has joined us to explore how AI can be thoughtfully applied to storytelling.

We're also sensitive to the depth of feeling on AI in Hollywood. That's understandable! It would be odd if folks didn't have strong views.

A few personal reflections on this moment:

> 1. It's easy to forget that these are still early days. Model developers at 30,000ft can scarcely imagine how AI will be refined and adapted to solve real tasks on the ground by masters of the craft. The goal of a model lab is to support that discovery process—not dictate if, when, or how to use AI.

> 2. AI is a tool. Like any tool, AI can be used in ways that are meaningful or utterly meaningless. But meaningful applications of AI will always depend on the taste, values, and judgment of creators and their audiences. There is a gradient between art and slop, and folks are capable of identifying the inflection point.

> 3. The caricature of AI as a "push a button, get a poem" widget is outdated. AI will be integrated in ways that are subtle, interstitial, and complementary. That's how Scorsese uses AI in storyboarding here: not as a way to offload his creative choices, but a way to express those choices to his production team.

It's really important for researchers and creators to engage in this kind of dialog, not retreat into siloes. We're excited that Martin is helping to bridge these communities.

[Black Forest Labs @bfl_ai]

"The fact that someone like Martin Scorsese — one of the greatest, most impressive filmmakers to exist — is using our technology and curious about exploring it...it's such a great proof point that this works.”

- our CEO @robrombach in an interview with @brooksbarnes for the @nytimes. They discussed why Martin Scorsese joined BFL as an advisor.

At Black Forest Labs, we're building visual intelligence: AI models that can understand and reason in the physical and digital worlds. Scorsese is helping shape how our models serve creators who care deeply about their craft, whether they're storytellers, designers, engineers, or roboticists.

Link to article in the thread.

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Per @WHOSTP47: "We are NOT conducting oversight of all new models, as that level of government overreach would have chilling effects on free speech and innovation"

[Black Forest Labs @bfl_ai]

Martin Scorsese is an advisor to Black Forest Labs.

He's spent six decades shaping how the world sees stories. Now he's helping us shape visual intelligence with human taste and craft at the center.

We sat down with him for a working storyboarding session using FLUX.

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@voooooogel San Francisco whispers all of those things too, but also has the advantage of actually being a nice place to live.

[Delicious Tacos @Delicious_Tacos]

“It’s my honor to announce that the true pope is working with us from Avignon”

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@EoinHiggins_ Great piece. It feels like Groundhog Day, relitigating the same tired and overhyped rhetoric from 2022. For folks who are serious about reform, this is not the way.

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Pope Leo is an open-source champion

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@egastfriend @DavidSacks Agree that a voluntary program is likely, and desirable. But as CAISI (and UKAISI) have shown, you can set up a voluntary arrangement with minimal fuss. Borrowing hard regulatory language to set up a soft collaborative framework via EO is certainly a signal, but not a good one.

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

Here's the thing: you don't need an EO to set up a voluntary beta release, nor do you need to define a "covered frontier model" for a voluntary beta. As @DavidSacks & POTUS correctly surmised, this EO was just one adjective and one sentence away from endorsing "FDA for weights".

[Sophia Cai @SophiaCai99]

3/ The draft includes language that emphasizes the voluntary nature of the process.

Left undated - May XX, 2026

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@SpaceX Not to mention the Pez satellite dispenser

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

The AV team at @SpaceX deserves a raise. Phenomenal views from Starship 12. Not long ago, it would've been unthinkable to livestream the engine bay, re-entry, and distant splashdown from outside the spacecraft

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

I gave a talk at the Global Free Speech Summit with @SpeechFuture about why AI is a fundamentally expressive technology, and how open weights can promote transparency in the systems that determine how we access, produce, and interpret information

[The Future of Free Speech @SpeechFuture]

@opensauceAI See the full discussion on the #FreeSpeechSummit2025 YouTube channel: https://t.co/U1Xs5DXvf3

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

The Biden folks didn't want to repeat the Bernstein culture wars, and specifically excluded open models in their export rule. It would be... a remarkable turn of events for this Administration to try. Thankfully, it sounds like a majority in this WH understand the significant downsides of trying to "FDA-ify" open weights.

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@ashleevance Latent diffusion guy @robrombach

[Andrew Curran @AndrewCurran_]

Update on the AI executive order: discussions are still ongoing, but a senior White House official who was granted anonymity told Politico that 'There's one or two people who are very intent on government regulations, but they're sort of the minority of the bunch.' and added that the White House is looking for 'partnership' with companies rather than pursuing 'government regulation.'

[Ben Brooks @opensauceAI]

@ohlennart It could, but that would require capable open alternatives. If US / EU labs (other than e.g. Reflection, AI2, Mistral) no longer release strong open models, the options are increasingly limited.