Zuckerberg’s AI Gamble: Meta Urges US Government to Adopt Llama Model

October 31, 2024 – During the third-quarter earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, revealed that the company is “working with the public sector to drive the adoption of the Llama AI model across US government agencies.”

This announcement has sparked numerous questions: Which government departments will utilize Meta’s AI models? What purposes will these models serve? Could they be used for military applications? And will Meta receive any remuneration for this?

When journalists reached out to Meta for further clarification, spokesman Jon Carvill declined to provide any information beyond Zuckerberg’s brief comments to investors.

According to The Verge, Meta’s effort to market its AI technology to the government is particularly noteworthy in the current political climate. On one hand, presidential candidate Donald Trump has recently threatened to imprison Zuckerberg, who has long attempted to maintain a distance from politics.

On the other hand, Meta’s AI competitors are also actively engaging with the government. OpenAI and Anthropic have recently indicated that they will share their models early with the US AI Safety Institute for safety reviews. Google is also widely known as a supplier of AI to the Pentagon. A recent blog post from OpenAI stated that its models are being utilized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the US Agency for International Development, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Furthermore, Zuckerberg disclosed some information about the next-generation Llama model during the earnings call. He mentioned that the fourth-generation model is being trained on a cluster “larger than any other model I’ve seen” and is expected to feature “new modalities,” “stronger reasoning capabilities,” and “faster performance” upon its release next year.

Zuckerberg acknowledged that Meta plans to continue increasing its investment in AI in 2025, which “may not be what investors want to hear in the short term.” However, he believes that the potential rewards are worthwhile.

“I’m very excited about all the work we’re doing,” Zuckerberg said. “This might be the most dynamic moment I’ve seen in our industry, and I’m focused on making sure we build some great things and take full advantage of the opportunities ahead.”

From a business perspective, Meta continues to grow. The company reported third-quarter revenue of 40.5billion,representinga1917.3 billion. Meta claims that at least 3.29 billion people use one of its apps daily, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year.

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