Open Source, Closed Exits
The cartoon mocks corporate hypocrisy in the AI industry: companies loudly market themselves as champions of openness, sharing, and innovation, while simultaneously restricting, discarding, or legally trapping the very people who created the technology. It satirizes 'open' as a PR label for products
A single-panel cartoon set on the pristine campus of a flashy AI firm during a celebratory product launch. In the foreground, executives in branded fleeces and hard hats beam as they cut a giant ribbon across the entrance of an enormous glass building labeled OPEN MODEL RELEASE. Confetti cannons, cameras, and a banner reading 'Openness for Everyone' heighten the spectacle. In the same frame, just off to the side but impossible to miss, a line of weary engineers and researchers are being herded through airport-style turnstiles toward a cramped side door labeled NON-COMPETE EXIT. An HR rep collects badges while another carries a box of desk plants and family photos. Through the giant windows of the open-release building, presentation screens show slogans about transparency and collaboration, while some employees inside are applauding the launch and others glance nervously toward the exit line. The humor comes from the stark architectural contrast: openness gets a palace, workers get a chute.