The PyTorch Foundation: PyTorch's Move To Independence With The Linux Foundation
The PyTorch Foundation is PyTorch's transition to a new era for AI; Meta now sits alongside industry leads to democratize PyTorch's growth and development.
Created on September 12|Last edited on September 12
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Meta AI has announced that PyTorch will be transitioning to the PyTorch Foundation as part of the Linux Foundation and, with the introduction of a governance board of industry leaders driving it's growth, heralding in a new era for PyTorch and the AI community that relies on it every day.
For the average PyTorch user, things should remain about the same; PyTorch will remain open-source, and it will continue to grow in the collaborative environment it has developed over the years. With new sponsorship opportunities and open collaboration between industry leaders rather than sole ownership by Meta, PyTorch will be able to grow at a faster rate and become it's optimal self.
PyTorch's journey up to now
Starting as a small framework developed by Meta AI researchers to streamline their AI project development, PyTorch had humble beginnings. Though a couple years later, it's 1.0 release would be a landmark moment for the AI community. With community collaboration in an open-source environment, PyTorch was shaped into the iconic framework it's now recognized as.
With more than 2,400 contributors on GitHub and over 150,000 repositories using PyTorch (not to mention the undoubtedly countless projects not uploaded to GitHub), the once-small framework drives the quick, easily accessible, and open AI community we now take for granted. Even in the research world, PyTorch is used in over 80% of works submitted to major ML conferences.
The PyTorch Foundation and the future of PyTorch
PyTorch's transition from sole ownership by Meta AI to a more open and democratized governance board of industry leaders will let PyTorch's developmental trajectory match the industry consensus rather than the individual influence by Meta.
As of right now, the board of companies which now make up the governing board are AMD, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Azure, and NVIDIA. All industry leaders, these companies will put their differences aside and ensure that PyTorch continues to build up as the vendor-neutral and endlessly applicable framework users expect.
The new opportunities for funding by not only it's 6 main members, but by external companies as well, will boost PyTorch's growth further than even before. As part of the Linux Foundation, PyTorch will also be met with more opportunities for community events and collaboration, as well as training, certifications, and other community dynamics.
Meta's choice to set PyTorch free from their sole influence shows their trust in the framework, trust in the industry to know what's for it, and the recognition that for PyTorch to really meet it's maximum potential, it must be owned democratically.
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