With an LLM, the actual 0s and 1s of the model are fairly standard, common, and freely available to anyone that wants to use them. The "source code" for an LLM, is the process used to create the outcome, and to an extent, the data used to train with. DeepSeek released a highly detailed paper that describes the process used to create the outcome. People/Companies are actively trying to reproduce the work of DeepSeek to confirm the findings.
It's more akin to scientific research where everyone is using the same molecules, but depending on the process you put the molecules through, you get a different outcome.
> With an LLM, the actual 0s and 1s of the model are fairly standard, common, and freely available to anyone that wants to use them
How is that different than the 0s and 1s of a program?
Assembly instructions are literally standard. What’s more, if said program uses something like Java, the byte code is even _more_ understandable. So much so that there is an ecosystem of Java decompilers.
Binary files are not the “source” in question when talking about “open source”
There is no way to decompile an LLM's weights and obtain a somewhat meaningful, reproducible source, like with a program binary as you say. In fact, if we were to compare both in this way that would make a program binary more "open source".
It's more akin to scientific research where everyone is using the same molecules, but depending on the process you put the molecules through, you get a different outcome.