Meta Joins AI Race With New Language Model for Researchers

Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday, Feb. 24, that Meta, formerly known as Facebook, will release a new large language model based on artificial intelligence (AI), CNA reports.

Reuters notes that this move is part of the company's efforts to enter the AI race, where tech leaders such as Alphabet Inc and China's Baidu have already made their presence known.

New AI Model LLaMA Is a Tool for Researchers

The new model, called LLaMA, is intended to assist AI researchers in advancing their work. The Facebook boss noted that large language models had demonstrated promise in generating text, carrying on conversations, summing up written material, and performing complex tasks such as solving mathematical theorems and even predicting protein structures.

Zuckerberg stated in a Facebook post that Meta is committed to the open research model and will make LLaMA available to the AI research community. In order to maintain a competitive advantage, some businesses have been known to keep their AI models proprietary.

More Players are Joining the AI Race

More and more players are competing for dominance in the AI technology sector, which has become increasingly competitive. OpenAI, a company backed by Microsoft, released ChatGPT in 2022, kicking off the race to develop better large language models. Now, Meta is joining the race, betting on LLaMA.

Chinese companies, including the popular search engine Baidu and the e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, are rapidly adopting chatbot solutions powered by artificial intelligence. Baidu Ernie Bot, an AI tool slated for March release, was announced in early February.

Moreover, Google centered its efforts on Bard AI, which integrates itself into the company's lucrative search engine development, whereas Microsoft has already made its way to Bing.

Meta Dives Into AI

LLaMA is Meta's most recent AI product, but not it is first. The company has already invested significantly in AI, including using natural language processing (NLP) to enhance its content moderation efforts. Additionally, the company has utilized AI to create virtual assistants such as M, released in 2015.

It is an interesting choice for Meta to make LLaMA accessible to the research community. It shows the company's willingness to collaborate with researchers in artificial intelligence instead of keeping its technology proprietary. This action could contribute to advancing research and innovation in the field.

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