Now it’s mounting a strong second act, joined by a wave of AI open-source enthusiasts. This time across the stakes are higher, and we want to present it the support it never had.
In 2024 the AI leader Hugging Face developed an open-source platform for AI robots, which already has 3,500+ robot data sets and draws hundreds of participants from every continent to hitch giant hackathons. Raspberry Pi went public on the London Stock Exchange for $700 million. After a hiatus, Maker Faire got here back; essentially the most recent one had nearly 30,000 attendees, with kinetic sculptures, flaming octopuses, and DIY robot bands, and this 12 months there might be over 100 Maker Faires around the globe. Just last week, DIY.org relaunched its app. In March, my friend Roya Mahboob, founding father of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, released a movie concerning the team to incredible reviews. People love the concept making is the final word type of human empowerment and expression. All of the while, a core set of individuals have continued influencing thousands and thousands through maker organizations like FabLabs and Adafruit.
Studies show that hands-on creativity reduces anxiety, combats loneliness, and boosts cognitive function. The act of creating grounds us, connects us to others, and reminds us that we’re able to shaping the world with our own hands.
I’m not proposing to reject AI hardware but to reject the concept innovation have to be proprietary, elite, and closed. I’m proposing to fund and construct the open alternative. Which means putting our investment, time, and purchases towards robot in-built community labs, AI models trained within the open, tools made transparent and hackable. That world isn’t just more inclusive—it’s more progressive. It’s also more fun.
This isn’t nostalgia. That is about fighting for the form of future we wish: A way forward for openness and joy, not of conformity and consumption. One where technology invites participation, not passivity. Where children grow up not only knowing the best way to swipe, but the best way to construct. Where creativity is a shared endeavor, not the mythical province of lone geniuses in glass towers.
In his Io announcement video, Altman said, “We are actually getting ready to a brand new generation of technology that could make us our higher selves.” It jogged my memory of the movie , where 4 tech moguls tell themselves they’re saving the world while the world is burning. I don’t think the iPhone made us our higher selves. In reality, you’ve never seen me run faster than once I’m attempting to snatch an iPhone out of my three-year-old’s hands.
So yes, I’m watching what Sam Altman and Jony Ive will unveil. But I’m much more excited by what’s happening in basements, in classrooms, on workbenches. Because the true iPhone moment isn’t a brand new product we wait for. It’s the moment you realize you may construct it yourself. And better of all? You can’t doomscroll whenever you’re holding a soldering iron.
