Smart support

Facebook releases new AI model Llama-3

The Facebook group Meta is releasing a new, more powerful version of its AI model. The software, called Llama-3, will bring new functions to apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp and run in the in-house assistant Meta AI. Llama-3 will initially only be available in English, said Meta manager Nick Clegg when announcing the program.

Among other things, Meta is bringing its AI assistant into the connected glasses developed together with Ray Ban, which have a camera, microphone and loudspeaker. Clegg told the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the assistant could be asked when and how Cleopatra died or what the weather would be like in Berlin while skiing, for example. The software will also be able to generate images from text specifications more quickly and display them as animations.

Meta is not currently thinking about business models for AI software, emphasized Clegg, who is the group's Head of Policy. The Facebook group first wants to develop technology that people find useful or interesting - "and then we'll figure out how to make money with it later".

Open source
Unlike the ChatGPT developer OpenAI, for example, Meta is making its Llama technology (Large Language Model Meta AI) available as open source software, where the source code is publicly accessible.

The view that open source models are more secure is becoming increasingly prevalent because many people can put them to the test and "you don't have to rely on a company to iron out the weak points in its software". At the same time, Clegg criticized the current lack of a uniform basis for assessing the risks of artificial intelligence.