Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is making its AI chatbot, Llama 2, available for commercial use by partnering with major cloud providers like Microsoft. Llama 2 is an artificial intelligence system that competes with ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the partnership with Microsoft to introduce the next generation of their AI language model, Llama 2, and make it free for research and commercial use. The AI models can be downloaded directly or accessed through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, along with their safety and content tools.
Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of open-source technology in driving innovation and improving safety and security. By open-sourcing Llama 2, Meta aims to unlock more progress in the AI ecosystem. Microsoft, in response, will make Llama 2 available through their Azure AI catalog, allowing developers to use it with cloud tools like content filtering. The AI tool will also run on Windows PCs and be available through other providers such as Amazon Web Services and Hugging Face.
The financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, but the collaboration indicates that Microsoft is not exclusively tied to OpenAI and is open to working with other AI technologies. While Meta described Microsoft as a “preferred” partner, the models will also be accessible through Amazon Web Services and other platforms, showcasing a collaborative approach to democratizing AI and expanding its benefits.
