Open-Source License (Apache 2.0 / MIT / Non-commercial)

The legal terms attached to public code or models that spell out who can use, modify, or sell them, and how.

An open-source license is the set of terms attached to code or a model that determines what users are allowed to do and what obligations they take on. MIT is the most permissive — keep the copyright notice and you can use and sell it freely; Apache 2.0 also permits commercial use, adds an explicit patent grant, and requires noting any modifications; GPL requires derivative works to also be open-sourced; and CC BY-NC or various vendors' own “non-commercial” licenses restrict use to research only. In embodied AI, a lot of model code is released under Apache 2.0, but the weights or datasets that go with it may carry separate restrictions — before building a product on top of something, check the licenses for code, weights, and data separately.

ExampleThe openpi repository's code is released under Apache 2.0, while some of the datasets it uses are restricted to non-commercial research.

Also called

open-source license, License

Related

Open-weight Model · GitHub · openpi (Physical Intelligence) · LeRobot · Open-Source Hardware (OSHW)

Sources

Licenses - Open Source Initiative
Choose an open source license