Meta Teams Up With Microsoft, Qualcomm on Llama 2 AI Large Language Model

The next generation of Meta’s large language model, Llama 2, is now available for free commercially in a partnership with Microsoft, Meta said Tuesday. 

Large language models are what power generative artificial intelligence chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Microsoft launched an AI-powered Bing search earlier this year, which makes use of ChatGPT. 

Under this partnership with Meta, Microsoft will now also offer access to Llama 2 through Azure AI and on Windows, though it will also be offered through Amazon Web Services and other providers. 

Llama 2 is open source and free to use for research and commercial uses, though you’d have to pay for Microsoft’s enterprise hosting service.

“We believe an open approach is the right one for the development of today’s AI models, especially those in the generative space,” Meta said Tuesday. “By making AI models available openly, they can benefit everyone.”

Meta added that a free, open large language model is also “safer” because more researchers and developers can stress test, find issues and solve problems sooner.

Llama 2 on smartphones

Qualcomm is also working with Meta to make Llama 2 AI implementations available on phones and PCs starting next year.

“This will allow customers, partners and developers to build use cases, such as intelligent virtual assistants, productivity applications, content creation tools, entertainment and more,” Qualcomm said Tuesday. “These new on-device AI experiences, powered by Snapdragon, can work in areas with no connectivity or even in airplane mode.”

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor powers the Samsung Galaxy S23 series currently, as well as Qualcomm’s processors being inside multiple other phone and computer brands.

There have now been over 100,000 requests for access to Llama 1 since it was launched in February, Meta said. 

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