ITG NowHome › AI glossary › Open weights
What are open weights?
Open weights means a company shares an AI model's trained files so anyone can download and run the model.
- Category Models
- Also called open-weight, open-weight model, open model
- Updated 20 Oct 2026
Open weights, explained simply
With open weights, you can run the model on your own computer. You don't have to send your data to the maker.
Open weights isn't always the same as open source. The training data and code may stay private, and the license may have limits.
Always read the license before using an open-weights model for business.
On ITG Now, our AI models page marks which models are open and which are closed.
Related terms
Model weightsClosed modelOpen sourceLocal AISoftware licenseHugging Face
Where you'll see it on ITG Now
- AI modelMiMo-V2.6-Pro
- AI modelGemma 4 31B
- AI modelQwen3.8-27B
- AI modelBeam 1.0
- AI modelKimi K3
- AI modelMuse Spark Open
Questions people ask about Open weights
Open weights vs open source: what is the difference?
Open weights shares the finished model files. Open source usually means the code and the right to change and share it, under a clear license.
Are open-weights models free?
Often the download is free. Running them costs your own computer power, and the license may have rules.