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[eclipse.org-membership-at-large] Proposal for the Establishment of an Open Source AI Interest Group at the Eclipse Foundation
Dear Members of the Eclipse Foundation,

The Eclipse Foundation has always been where open source meets industry needs. Across developer tools, automotive, IoT, and enterprise Java, this community has demonstrated that vendor-neutral collaboration produces better outcomes than any single organisation working in isolation.

Artificial intelligence is the next domain where that logic applies. As organisations increasingly depend on AI technologies, open source approaches are becoming an important foundation for transparency, interoperability, digital sovereignty, and long-term sustainability.

We are proposing the creation of an Open Source AI Interest Group (IG) at the Eclipse Foundation: a vendor-neutral space for Member organisations to share knowledge, map use cases, foster innovative research, and track the direction of AI development together.

Why an Interest Group, and Why Now
The AI landscape is moving faster than most organisations can track individually. Models shift. Evaluation frameworks proliferate. Regulatory requirements harden. Use cases that seemed experimental 18 months ago are now in production across sectors.

An Interest Group at the Eclipse Foundation provides a structured, low-friction way to pool signals across Member organisations. No additional participation agreement, no additional fees, no software to ship. A defined scope, open governance under the Foundation's existing policies, and a shared platform for collective analytical work.

The Eclipse Foundation already hosts a growing ecosystem of AI-related projects and initiatives, showcased at https://eclipse.org/ai. At the same time, new AI-related efforts are emerging across existing projects, EU funded research projects results, Working Groups, and community initiatives. As this landscape continues to expand, there is increasing value in having a central, vendor-neutral forum where Member organisations can identify, connect, and discuss these activities, helping to build visibility and collaboration across the broader open source AI ecosystem.

This is a knowledge and collaboration initiative. It operates under the Foundation's antitrust and intellectual property policies. Every Member, regardless of sector or commercial position, participates on equal terms.

What the Group Will Work On
The Open Source AI Interest Group will focus on five areas:

Use Case Mapping
Documenting where Member organisations are deploying, evaluating, or piloting open source AI today. The goal is a shared landscape across sectors, rather than each Member rediscovering the same terrain. Members at different stages of adoption benefit from visibility into where their peers are and where the gaps remain.

Technology Assessment and Trend Monitoring
Tracking developments in open source foundation models, evaluation frameworks, inference infrastructure, and regulatory guidance that affect Members' AI decisions. The Eclipse Foundation works with Strategic Members from the US, Europe, and Asia. That geographic spread gives the IG access to multiple vantage points on the AI landscape, including model ecosystems and evaluation methodologies that a narrower geographic view would miss. The goal is a curated, actionable signal.

Collaborative Documents and Reference Materials
Producing whitepapers, blueprints, and reference materials that the Member community can use directly. Consistent with the Eclipse Foundation Interest Group Process, the group will not develop software or specifications. It will produce analytical and strategic documents that support Members' own AI work and contribute to the broader open source AI conversation.

Ecosystem Onboarding and Community Building
Creating a clear entry point for Member organisations at any stage of the open source AI journey. Whether an organisation is running production models or still assessing options, the IG provides a peer community and a growing body of reference material. The group will also serve as a visible point of engagement for the wider open source AI community, including organisations exploring Eclipse Foundation membership.

Research Outcomes Dissemination
These reference materials also draw on the outcomes of research projects hosted at the Foundation, several of them European-funded. The Group turns those results, for example the Mosaico extension for agentic development, into summaries Members can act on, while leaving the research and any software to the projects that own them. 

Scope and Constraints
Consistent with the Eclipse Foundation Interest Group Process, this group will not:
  • Develop software or software documentation tied to an implementation.
  • Develop specifications.
  • Form sub-committees or sub-groups.
Work of that nature belongs in an Eclipse Foundation project or working group. The IG is the right structure for knowledge sharing and collaborative analysis, not for product or engineering work.

Governance and Participation
The Open Source AI Interest Group will operate under the Eclipse Foundation's governance framework: the Bylaws, Interest Group Process, Membership Agreement, Intellectual Property Policy, Antitrust Policy, Privacy Policy, Code of Conduct, and Communication Channel Guidelines.

Participation is open to all Members and interested parties.  Members participate by designating a Participant Representative and declaring participation on the group's mailing list.

The creation process follows the Eclipse Foundation Interest Group Process: a Pre-Proposal Phase (EMO-supported), a Proposal Phase open to Member comment, and a Creation Review requiring at least three participating Member organisations and approval by the Executive Director.

Call to Action
We are looking for Member organisations ready to co-found this group. A minimum of three participating Members is required to move through the Proposal Phase into the Operational Phase.

If your organisation is working or doing research on open source AI, or exploring how open source AI may impact your business, and would benefit from structured peer collaboration, a shared knowledge base, and a vendor-neutral environment for discussion, we would like to hear from you. Founding participants will have an opportunity to help shape the initial priorities and activities of the Interest Group.

Please express your interest in joining by posting a statement to the proposal's mailing list. Note that an Eclipse account is required to subscribe to the mailing list prior to submitting your email.

You may reach out to myself or Michael Berns, Head of AI, at any time should you have any questions.  General inquiries can be directed to our Collaborations Team here.

[1] https://eclipse.org/ai
[2] https://www.eclipse.org/collaborations/interest-groups/process/
[3] ai-interest-group@xxxxxxxxxxx  
[4] https://accounts.eclipse.org/user/register
[5] collaborations@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  

Regards,
--Michael 

Michael Plagge

Chief Membership Officer | Eclipse Foundation AISBL

M: +49 (0) 172 8688 326 | LinkedIn


Rond Point Schuman 11 - Brussels 1040 - Belgium

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