Meta to continue releasing AI tools despite leak claims

A smartphone with a displayed Meta logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken Feb 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo

Meta Platforms Inc on Monday said it will continue to release its artificial intelligence tools to approved researchers despite claims on online message boards that its latest large language model had leaked to unauthorized users.

“While the model is not accessible to all, and some have tried to circumvent the approval process, we believe the current release strategy allows us to balance responsibility and openness,” Meta said in a statement.

Facebook owner Meta maintains a major AI research arm and last month released LLaMA, short for Large Language Model Meta AI. Meta claimed that the model can achieve the kind of human-like conversational abilities of AI systems designed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI and Alphabet Inc while using far less computing power.

Unlike some rivals such as OpenAI, which keeps tight wraps on its technology and charges software developers to access it, Meta’s AI research arm shares most of its work openly. But AI tools also contain the potential for abuse, such as creating and spreading false information.

To avoid those kinds of misuse, Meta makes its tools available to researchers and other entities affiliated with government, civil society and academia under a non-commercial license after a vetting process.

Last week, users on the online forum 4Chan claimed to have made the model available for download. Reuters could not independently verify those claims.

In its statement, Meta said its LLaMA release was handled in the same way as previous models and that it does not plan to change its strategy.

“It’s Meta’s goal to share state-of-the-art AI models with members of the research community to help us evaluate and improve those models,” Meta said.

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