The Linux Foundation is helping organizations with regulatory and AI challenges by fostering collaboration, conducting research, and offering shared resources to drive compliance and innovation. In this show, Hilary Carter, SVP of Research at the Linux Foundation, discusses the foundation’s initiatives, the role of its research program, key trends in AI and regulation for 2025, and what to expect from the Linux Foundation for the coming year.

The Linux Foundation aims to foster global collaboration and innovation through its stewardship of open-source software, hardware, standards, and data. By creating collaboration frameworks, the foundation enables secure and robust open-source architecture that can benefit users worldwide.

Linux Foundation’s research program, LF Research, provides empirical insights into open source trends, including awareness, velocity, usage, and contribution patterns. The program’s data repository aims to offer insights into open source’s impact across industries, geographic regions, and technology domains.

AI and data-driven insights will be crucial for organizations in the coming with empirical insights playing a key role in guiding strategies. LF Research aims to facilitate this process by providing evidence on the impact of generative AI (GenAI) and its intersection with open source. The program also highlights the economic and global innovation value of open source in advancing AI systems.

Carter also talks about the changes in the global regulatory landscape, focusing on the implications of the AI Act and Cyber Resilience Act for open source software communities. Carter explains Linux Foundation’s role in helping organizations comply with these regulations through collaboration and shared resources.

LF Research has two upcoming reports on regulation, exploring how Civil Infrastructure Platform (CIP), Yocto Project (YP), and Zephyr Project achieve regulatory compliance and best practices in open-source software. A recent survey by LF Research highlights low awareness of the Cyber Resilience Act, underscoring the need to increase awareness of cybersecurity best practices and regulatory compliance through improved information sharing and collaboration.

Carter predicts that open source software will play a significant role in advancing AI innovation. Highlighting findings from a recent LF Research study, Carter says, “82% of our highly qualified respondents said that open source was incredibly important to AI innovation, and 83% said that openness will become increasingly important over time.” Carter tells us that there is growing interest in sovereign AI systems tailored to organizational needs. These systems, which are often built on open source software, are expected to gain traction.

With Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) celebrating its 10th anniversary, Carter emphasizes the importance of neutral foundations in scaling innovation, and the research opportunities to measure their impact. Carter explains how past studies have provided valuable insights into the benefits of neutral governance models, including increased collaboration, faster innovation, and improved integration with other open source projects.

Looking ahead, Carter underscores Linux Foundation’s dedication to providing empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of its foundation model in scaling open source projects and fostering innovation. By generating research, raising awareness of regulatory requirements, and enabling global collaboration, it aims to continue to advance the open source ecosystem and address emerging challenges.

Guest: Hilary Carter (LinkedIn)
Organization: Linux Foundation
Show: 2025 Prediction Series

This summary was written by Emily Nicholls.