Highlights:

  • One of the many benefits of PyTorch is that it assists developers and data scientists use Python as the main programming language for AI models.
  • Since its 2016 release, more than 2,400 contributors and 18,000,000 businesses have chosen the PyTorch machine learning framework for academic research and production applications.

The Linux Foundation, a global non-profit organization that fosters innovation via open source, announced that PyTorch would move from Meta to the Linux Foundation, where it will reside under the newly formed PyTorch Foundation. A deep learning framework, PyTorch is used to power hundreds of AI projects, in particular machine learning applications.

One of the many benefits of PyTorch is that it assists developers and data scientists use Python as the main programming language for AI models.  This offers developers working on machine learning tasks greater flexibility and speed. Additionally, PyTorch is a graphics processing unit-accelerated framework that makes it the most sought-after for many users as GPUs are the preferred hardware for running machine learning models.

Furthermore, PyTorch supports “tensors” that allow the creation and manipulation of data in ways that cannot be done by other frameworks.  PyTorch also provides various modules that can help to expand its functionality, including torchvision for image processing, torchaudio for audio processing and many others. With these modules, it becomes possible to leverage PyTorch for a wide range of deep learning applications.

Since its 2016 release, more than 2,400 contributors and 18,000,000 businesses have chosen the PyTorch machine learning framework for academic research and production applications. The Linux Foundation will collaborate with PyTorch’s project maintainers, developer community, and early founding members to sustain the ecosystem at its new location.

Projects like PyTorch, which have the potential to become a crucial technology’s core platform, benefit from a neutral home. As a member of the Linux Foundation, PyTorch and its community will access various programs and support infrastructure, such as training and certification programs, research, and local to international events. Working inside and alongside the Linux Foundation, PyTorch will have access to the LFX collaboration platform, enabling mentorships and assisting the PyTorch community in identifying future leaders, locating new hiring, and observing typical project dynamics.

Jim Zemlin, executive director for the Linux Foundation, said, “Growth around AI/ML and Deep Learning has been nothing short of extraordinary—and the community embrace of PyTorch has led to it becoming one of the five-fastest growing open-source software projects in the world. Bringing PyTorch to the Linux Foundation, where its global community will continue to thrive, is a true honor. We are grateful to the team at Meta—where PyTorch was incubated and grown into a massive ecosystem—for trusting the Linux Foundation with this crucial effort.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and amp; CEO of Meta, said, “Some AI news: we’re moving PyTorch, the open-source AI framework led by Meta researchers, to become a project governed under the Linux Foundation. PyTorch has become one of the leading AI platforms, with more than 150,000 projects on GitHub built on the framework. The new PyTorch Foundation board will include many AI leaders who’ve helped get the community where it is today, including Meta and our AMD, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and NVIDIA partners. I’m excited to keep building the PyTorch community and advancing AI research.”

Dr. Ibrahim Haddad, Linux Foundation’s vice president of strategic programs, has been appointed executive director of the PyTorch Foundation. The PyTorch Foundation will promote a robust member ecosystem with a diversified governing board that includes AMD, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Azure, and NVIDIA as founding members. This project will foster the continuous development of the PyTorch ecosystem via its robust maintainer and contributor communities. The PyTorch Foundation will maintain the transparency and governance necessary for such essential open-source projects while encouraging explosive growth.