Open-source AI refers to AI models, tools, and frameworks whose source code and/or model weights are publicly available, allowing anyone to use, modify, and deploy them without paying licensing fees. Llama, Mistral, and Stable Diffusion are prominent examples. Open-source AI democratizes access: a Moroccan startup can build products on top of a state-of-the-art model without depending on a single provider, though it must handle hosting, fine-tuning, and security itself.