Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in generative AI, have captured the public’s imagination and demonstrated their immense potential to empower individuals and businesses, create new economic and social opportunities, and facilitate meaningful connections between people.
Embracing an open approach is deemed crucial, especially in the rapidly evolving field of generative AI. By making AI models openly available, the benefits can be extended to everyone, including businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers. Access to these advanced tools, developed on a scale that would otherwise be challenging to achieve, coupled with significant computing power, opens up a world of possibilities for experimentation, innovation, and societal gains.
Moreover, promoting open access to AI models is seen as a safer option. This approach allows for collective stress testing and swift problem identification and resolution within the developer community. By observing how others use these tools, teams can learn from each other, improve the models, and address potential vulnerabilities.
For over a decade, Meta has embraced exploratory research, open source principles, and collaboration with academic and industry partners to foster innovation that benefits a broader audience. This commitment to openness has already led to the release of numerous large language models, driving progress in the field of generative AI. The high demand for Llama 1, with over 100,000 requests for access, has showcased the remarkable achievements made by researchers building upon it.
Now, Meta is taking the next step by open-sourcing Llama 2, providing it free of charge for both research and commercial use. The model weights and starting code are included, as well as conversational fine-tuned versions. Microsoft has become a preferred partner for Llama 2, further solidifying their collaboration in generative AI. Llama 2 is available through various platforms, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Hugging Face, fostering accessibility and enabling developers to create generative AI experiences across different platforms.
The partnership between Microsoft and Meta signifies a joint effort to democratize access to foundational AI technologies, benefiting businesses worldwide. This commitment to openness and democratization is also supported by various companies, cloud providers, research institutions, and individuals across the tech, academic, and policy realms.
Responsibility is a crucial aspect of this open approach. To address potential risks associated with AI, Meta has implemented red-teaming exercises and commissioned external adversarial testing to ensure safety and identify areas for improvement. The company also provides transparency schematics, a responsible use guide, and an acceptable use policy to promote ethical usage of the models.
Furthermore, Meta has launched initiatives to gather feedback and insights from researchers and developers worldwide. The Open Innovation AI Research Community and Llama Impact Challenge aim to deepen understanding, encourage responsible development, and address significant challenges with the help of the Llama 2 model.
Meta’s history of successful open source initiatives, such as React and PyTorch, has demonstrated the immense value of openness in fostering industry-wide innovation. They believe that sharing large language models openly will lead to more helpful and safer generative AI applications.
Overall, Meta is eager to witness the incredible innovations and solutions that the world will create with the assistance of Llama 2.