Meta is “working with the general public sector to undertake Llama throughout the US authorities,” in accordance with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The remark, made throughout his opening remarks for Meta’s Q3 earnings name on Wednesday, raises a whole lot of essential questions: Precisely which components of the federal government will use Meta’s AI fashions? What’s going to the AI be used for? Will there be any form of military-specific purposes of Llama? Is Meta getting paid for any of this?
After I requested Meta to elaborate, spokesperson Religion Eischen advised me through e-mail that “we’ve partnered with the US State Division to see how Llama might assist tackle totally different challenges — from increasing entry to protected water and dependable electrical energy, to serving to help small companies.” She additionally stated the corporate has “been in contact with the Division of Training to find out how Llama might assist make the monetary assist course of extra person pleasant for college students and are in discussions with others about how Llama could possibly be utilized to learn the federal government.”
She added that there was “no cost concerned” in these partnerships.
There’s additionally the cozying as much as the federal government that Meta’s AI rivals are doing. OpenAI and Anthropic recently said they’d share their fashions with the US AI Security Institute forward of time for security screening. Google’s on-and–off-again relationship as an AI vendor for the Pentagon is properly documented. In a recent blog post, OpenAI stated its fashions have been being utilized by DARPA, the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement, and the Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory.
Whereas we wait to find out about Meta’s AI work with the federal government, Zuckerberg teased a bit extra in regards to the subsequent Llama mannequin on the Q3 earnings name. He stated model 4 is coaching on “a cluster larger than I’ve seen reported for anything others are doing” and that he expects “new modalities,” “stronger reasoning,” and “a lot quicker” efficiency when it debuts subsequent 12 months.
He acknowledged that Meta plans to proceed spending extra on AI in 2025, which is “perhaps not need buyers need to hear within the close to time period.” However he sees the upside as being price it.
“I’m fairly amped about all of the work we’re doing proper now,” he stated. “This can be essentially the most dynamic second I’ve seen in our trade, and I’m targeted on ensuring that we construct some superior issues and take advantage of the alternatives forward.”
As a enterprise, Meta continues to be persevering with to develop. The corporate reported income of $40.5 billion for Q3, a 19-percent enhance from a 12 months in the past, and $17.3 billion in revenue. And it claims that 3.29 billion individuals use at the least considered one of its apps every day, a rise of 5 p.c from a 12 months in the past.
Replace, October thirtieth: Added extra particulars from Meta spokesperson.
