Meta unleashes Llama, a free AI language model, challenging OpenAI and Google: 5 things to know – Crypto News

OpenAI and Google have created amazing large language models that power chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard, These chatbots have impressed people with their ability to mimic human creativity and knowledge.

What is Llama?

Llama is open-source, which means anyone can look at how it works and change it. This is different from other AI systems like OpenAI’s GPT-4, which are not open-source. These closed models do not let their users see the code or get detailed explanations about how they handle data.

“Open source drives innovation because it enables many more developers to build with new technology,” Meta CEO Mark 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,” Meta CEO added.

Threat to OpenAI and Google

Meta is making a commercial version of their open-source AI model called Llama. This version is safer compared to OpenAI’s models, which sometimes generate false information or behave unpredictably in chatbot conversations.

With this new release, start-ups and other businesses have access to a powerful alternative for free. They will not need to buy expensive proprietary models from companies like OpenAI and Google.

By offering the advanced Llama model for free to businesses, it could disrupt the early market dominance of companies like OpenAI. Open AI, supported by Microsoft, already provides its AI models to business customers through Azure. Now, with Llama becoming widely accessible, businesses have a powerful alternative without the high costs.

Meta and Microsoft’s partnership

Meta’s new and stronger version of their model, named Llama 2 is upgraded and is now accessible to any business either by downloading it directly or through Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, thanks to a special partnership with Microsoft.

Microsoft has a significant partnership with OpenAI, and now, they are also teaming up with Meta for the Llama 2 model. This shows that Microsoft wants to expand its AI offerings by providing products that give businesses more control over their data and software. They aim to offer diverse and customizable AI solutions to companies.

On Tuesday, Microsoft, known for being very active in the AI marketMade a big announcement. They plan to offer an AI-enhanced version of Microsoft 365, their office platform, for $30 per user, per month. This price increase could have a major impact on their business customers and potentially lead to much higher revenue for Microsoft. The move aligns with Google and Amazon’s plans to offer various AI models to their business customers as well. It seems like AI is becoming more essential for businesses, and companies are exploring different options to meet this growing demand.

What’s new

According to Zuckerberg, the initial version of llama was already on par with the models used in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot. However, the new version of Llama has received even more training, using 40 percent more data than its predecessor. Additionally, over one million human annotations were used to further improve the quality of its outputs.

“Commercial Llama could change the picture,” said Amjad Masad, chief executive at software developer platform Replit, who said more than 80 percent of projects there use OpenAI’s models.

“Any incremental improvement in open-source models is eating into the market share of closed-source models because you can run them cheaply and have less dependency,” said Masad.

Previous version

Previously, Meta only gave the model to certain academics for research. However, they have decided to make it more accessible now. The model will be available for direct download and through various providers such as Amazon Web Services and Hugging Face.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, mentioned this in a blog post and a separate post on Facebook. This move allows more people to use the model for different purposes.

Updated: 19 Jul 2023, 02:28 PM IST