The process by which knowledge that was produced in or contributed to the public domain becomes controlled within proprietary systems, limiting the ability of researchers, communities, or the public to access, audit, or build on it.
So what? LLM companies classify training datasets, model architectures, and optimisation techniques as trade secrets, extending enclosure beyond traditional intellectual property mechanisms and restricting public-interest research into bias, representational gaps, and data provenance.
Example: A researcher attempting to audit a commercial LLM for representational bias cannot access the training data because it is classified as a trade secret, even though much of that data originated from publicly funded or volunteer-produced sources.
So what? LLM companies classify training datasets, model architectures, and optimisation techniques as trade secrets, extending enclosure beyond traditional intellectual property mechanisms and restricting public-interest research into bias, representational gaps, and data provenance.
Example: A researcher attempting to audit a commercial LLM for representational bias cannot access the training data because it is classified as a trade secret, even though much of that data originated from publicly funded or volunteer-produced sources.
