I would have said this in the past, but at this point I don't think it matters that much anymore.
1. Code copyright has devalued a lot in general, as you can code significantly faster with LLMs and use them to launder GPL'd code into whatever you want.
2. Big tech seems to be getting away with most other forms of abuses these days, GPL wouldn't really stop them from doing anything important.
To the extent that code is being devalued, I would say that these LLMs are a benefit to open source overall, as devaluing of code also reduces the opportunity cost of open sourcing software. They also somewhat level the playing field between single-contributor open source projects and companies with teams of developers, because an individual is almost always limited by the rate at which he/she can write or architecture code, whereas teams have significant non-code overheads (meetings, reviews, bureaucracy).
> 1. Code copyright has devalued a lot in general, as you can code significantly faster with LLMs and use them to launder GPL'd code into whatever you want.
I see no real evidence this is the case. Can you provide examples?
For instance -- do you see many Linux clones right now? Ask yourself: why might you not? Perhaps it's because it's almost impossible for an AI to rewrite Linux.
It is specifically with these smaller projects, not something like Linux or Chromium, that AI can accelerate. In particular, companies would probably not bother using an (A)GPL'd library, and would instead recreate them from scratch with help from AI. I don't have specific evidence for this, though.
1. Code copyright has devalued a lot in general, as you can code significantly faster with LLMs and use them to launder GPL'd code into whatever you want.
2. Big tech seems to be getting away with most other forms of abuses these days, GPL wouldn't really stop them from doing anything important.
To the extent that code is being devalued, I would say that these LLMs are a benefit to open source overall, as devaluing of code also reduces the opportunity cost of open sourcing software. They also somewhat level the playing field between single-contributor open source projects and companies with teams of developers, because an individual is almost always limited by the rate at which he/she can write or architecture code, whereas teams have significant non-code overheads (meetings, reviews, bureaucracy).