Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, has recently unveiled Llama 2, a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) system that directly competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. However, the standout feature of Llama 2 is that it will be available for free, allowing startups and businesses to leverage this sophisticated technology at a lower cost. To distribute Llama 2, Meta has partnered with Microsoft, which will make the AI system accessible through its Azure cloud service.
Llama 2 is part of Meta’s large language model (LLM) series, which also forms the foundation for other generative AI products like ChatGPT. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s commitment to openness and innovation is evident through the company’s move to make Llama 2 available for both research and commercial use. Meta has sought to distinguish itself from its tech counterparts by prioritizing transparency and sharing the data and code employed in developing its AI systems. According to Zuckerberg, open-source models not only encourage innovation but also enhance safety and security. Consistent with this philosophy, Meta has open-sourced Llama 2 and highlighted its history of sharing AI work, including the highly popular PyTorch machine-learning framework.
However, while Meta’s commitment to transparency is commendable, the research paper introducing Llama 2 lacks the same level of detail as previous publications. It omits specifics about the training data used, although it mentions that the model was trained on publicly available data, excluding Meta’s own products or services. Notably, data from websites containing significant personal information was removed to address privacy concerns.
Meta plans to make its AI models accessible for download directly or via Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. Although the financial terms of the partnership remain undisclosed, Meta has confirmed that the models will also be available on platforms such as Amazon Web Services and Hugging Face. It is worth noting that while Microsoft is identified as Meta’s preferred partner, it also happens to be a significant funder and partner of OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT.
In parallel to the Llama 2 announcement, Microsoft shared its plans at the Inspire event to introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot, a generative AI tool designed to assist businesses. However, unlike Llama 2’s free availability, Microsoft intends to charge businesses a monthly fee of $30 per user for accessing their AI tool.
Meta’s release of Llama 2 marks another milestone in the rapidly advancing field of AI. By providing a free alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, Meta aims to empower startups and businesses by lowering the barriers to leveraging state-of-the-art AI technologies. As Meta and Microsoft join forces, the availability of Llama 2 through the Azure cloud service is expected to enhance accessibility and scalability for users. This partnership offers a promising glimpse into a future where innovative AI solutions are more accessible to all.
