Tech giant Meta has released an open source version of an artificial intelligence (AI) model, Llama 2, for public use. The LLaMA 2 (Large Language Model Meta AI) is available free of charge for commercial and research use to help startups, creators, and businesses.
What does it mean?
Meta announced open sourcing its large language model LLaMA 2. Making the software “open source” means that the powerful code can be freely copied, modified and reused. The technology, called LLaMA 2, provides everything needed to build online chatbots like ChatGPT.
“We believe an open approach is the right one for the development of today’s AI models, especially those in the generative space where the technology is rapidly advancing,” Meta said in a blog posting on June 18. The Facebook-parent company believes this option will open up a world of opportunities. “Opening access to today’s AI models means a generation of developers and researchers can stress test them, identifying and solving problems fast, as a community. By seeing how others use these tools, our teams can learn from them, improve those tools, and fix vulnerabilities,” the company said.
Who will benefit?
Meta explains the move will give businesses, startups, and researchers access to more AI tools, allowing for experimentation and ultimately benefiting them economically and socially. Llama 2 is designed to enable developers and organizations to build generative AI-powered tools and experiences.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company is partnering with Microsoft to introduce the next generation of its AI large language model.
“Open source drives innovation because it enables many more developers to build with new technology,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “It also improves safety and security because when software is open, more people can scrutinize it to identify and fix potential issues. I believe it would unlock more progress if the ecosystem were more open, which is why we’re open sourcing Llama 2.”
Where is it available?
Starting July 18, Llama 2 is available in the Azure AI model catalog, enabling developers using Microsoft Azure to build and leverage their cloud-native tools. Llama will be optimized to run locally on Windows. Llama 2 is available for download on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hugging Face, and other providers.
Concerns about open sourcing
Some experts have expressed fears that bad actors or cybercriminals could exploit Meta’s decision to open up its technology. However, Meta’s terms insist its AI cannot be used to promote violence or build computer viruses or weapons.
In June 2023, U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seeking information about the “leak” of its LLaMA program. They also expressed concerns about the potential for misuse in spam, fraud, malware, and other harms. The U.S. Senators believed Meta has set a dangerous precedent by making its AI code widely available. The letter reads that “centralized AI models can be more effectively updated and controlled to prevent and respond to abuse compared to open source AI models.” They believed that “Meta appears to have done little to restrict the model from responding to dangerous or criminal tasks.”
In response, Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, downplayed the risks, saying that the “hype has somewhat run ahead of the technology”. Nick claimed that the Meta model was “safer” than any of the other AI large language models (LLMs) which have been open sourced.
AI chatbot race
Recent breakthroughs in generative AI have captured the public’s imagination and demonstrated the potential of these technologies in generating creative text, solving complex problems and creating new opportunities. Since OpenAI released its hugely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, tech companies have been racing to release new models. Meta rolled out the first, smaller and restricted version of LLaMA in February 2023 to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
