This is a major development on Meta’s side. The web giant has decided to let US government agencies and contractors working on national security use its open source artificial intelligence models, Llama, for military purposes. Explanations.
Details of this decision
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, detailed the group’s choice in a blog post published this Monday, November 4. In its regulations, the company prohibits the use of its tools for purposes “military, war, nuclear”.
From now on, the company advocates “responsible and ethical uses” technology that supports the United States and “democratic values” in a global race for AI supremacy.
The leader thus indicated that the American government could use these innovations to track terrorist activities and improve the cybersecurity of American institutions. The idea is also to allow Uncle Sam and his closest allies: Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, to stay one step ahead of their rivals:
The goal should be to create a virtuous cycle, helping the United States maintain its technological lead while spreading access to AI globally and ensuring that the resulting innovations are responsible and ethical.
A controversial choice?
He adds: “In a world where national security is inextricably linked to economic production, innovation and job growth, widespread adoption of U.S. open source AI models serves both economic and security interests . Other countries – including China and other competitors – have also realized this and are rushing to develop their own open source models, investing heavily to get ahead of the United States..
It remains to be seen how this decision will be perceived. Our colleagues from New York Times recall in this regard that employees of Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have already openly protested against agreements made by their companies with military subcontractors and defense agencies.
What to remember:
- Meta changes its AI policy
- The group will let American government agencies use its technologies
- The idea is to allow Uncle Sam to compete with its competitors, particularly China.
