Meta to Offer AI Model for Business Use
The ongoing debate in the AI community revolves around whether code should be kept private or shared openly. OpenAI has chosen to keep data for projects like GPT-4 confidential, whereas Meta has granted access to its language model, LLaMA, to researchers and academics. However, according to the Financial Times, Meta is reportedly planning to release a new commercial version soon, which companies can tailor to their specific needs.
The change could help Meta catch up with other AI creators OpenAI and Google, and companies could build custom software using the new model. “The AI competitive landscape is going to change completely in the coming months, maybe in the coming weeks, when there will be open source platforms that are actually as good as those that aren’t,” Yann LeCun, Meta’s vice president and AI researcher, said at the July conference. Meta can also create AI chatbots for each type of user, such as an individual or a company.
Open source models certainly have a mix of pros and cons. Providing different AI capabilities to a wide range of people can help the model learn faster as the data it receives increases. Other eyes can also detect bugs and security issues, allowing developers to fix these issues faster. On the other hand, not all users of the code have good intentions, which can have dangerous consequences when using technology that affects many people in and out of the tech industry.
Access to Meta’s commercial AI model should be free at launch, but that may change sometime in the future. According to sources familiar with Meta, the company may eventually charge corporate customers if they want to change or customize the model.
