Is gpt-oss open source?

OpenAI publishes gpt-oss weights for download under the Apache License 2.0, a license on the Open Source Initiative’s approved list.

2 entries Versions 2 First entry Aug 2025 Latest Checked

Versions and licenses

Newest first · wording from each license file
VersionDateLicenseCommercial use, in the license’s wordsWeightsSourceChecked
gpt-oss-safeguard-120b and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b Apache License, Version 2.0 each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form. Downloadable License file (opens in a new tab) · Entry
gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b Apache License, Version 2.0 each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form. Downloadable License file (opens in a new tab) · Entry

“Downloadable” means the weights are published for download under the license named in the row. It is not a statement about that license’s terms.

Dated entries

2025

2 entries

Release: gpt-oss-safeguard-120b and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b weights under the same Apache 2.0 license as gpt-oss.

OpenAI, Introducing gpt-oss-safeguard (primary source, opens in a new tab)

Details
On open weights Today, we’re releasing a research preview of gpt-oss-safeguard, our open-weight reasoning models for safety classification tasks, available in two sizes: gpt-oss-safeguard-120b and gpt-oss-safeguard-20b. These models are fine-tuned versions of our gpt-oss open models and available under the same permissive Apache 2.0 license, allowing anyone to use, modify, and deploy them freely. Both models can be downloaded today from Hugging Face.

The post describes the two models as fine-tuned versions of the gpt-oss models and says they are under the same Apache 2.0 license. The license file quoted here is the LICENSE in openai/gpt-oss, opened with the August 5, 2025 release.

License
Apache License, Version 2.0 (opens in a new tab)
Commercial use
each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
Weights
Downloadable
Previous license
None recorded
Source type
Company page
Checked
Entry
#2025-10-29-gpt-oss-safeguard

Release: gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b weights under the Apache 2.0 license, described as open-weight language models.

OpenAI, Introducing gpt-oss (primary source, opens in a new tab)

Details
On open weights We’re releasing gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b—two state-of-the-art open-weight language models that deliver strong real-world performance at low cost. Available under the flexible Apache 2.0 license

The post says “gpt-oss models are our first open-weight language models since GPT-2” and that the weights are “freely available for download on Hugging Face.” On the same page: “Once an open-weight model is released, adversaries may be able to fine-tune the model for malicious purposes.” It says that even with robust fine-tuning, maliciously fine-tuned models “were unable to reach high capability levels” under the Preparedness Framework, and that “These findings informed our decision to release the gpt-oss models.”

License
Apache License, Version 2.0 (opens in a new tab)
Commercial use
each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of, publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
Weights
Downloadable
Previous license
None recorded
Source type
Company page
Checked
Entry
#2025-08-05-gpt-oss

All entries: 2 shown

Free to use

Cite this data

Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0. All we ask is a credit with a link back. Sources keep their own terms. CC BY 4.0

Source: Maple, Open-weight AI policy: gpt-oss (maple.ai/open-weights/gpt-oss), data through 2025-10-29.

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Every entry cites one primary source, quotes the document’s own words about open weights, and is checked against that source before it publishes. Corrections keep the old wording visible.
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