In contrast to its previous policy that forbade the use of its technology for such endeavors, Meta announced that it will permit US government agencies and contractors engaged in national security to utilize its artificial intelligence models for military objectives.
Meta stated that it was collaborating with defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen, as well as defense-oriented tech firms like Palantir and Anduril and that it would make its AI models, known as Llama, available to federal agencies. Since the Llama models are “open source,” other developers, businesses, and governments are free to disseminate and copy the technology.
This action is an exception to Meta’s “acceptable use policy,” which prohibited, among other things, the use of the company’s AI software for “military, warfare, and nuclear industries.”
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The company now supports “responsible and ethical uses” of the technology that promote the United States and “democratic values” in a worldwide battle for AI supremacy, according to a blog post published by Nick Clegg, president of global relations at Meta.
According to Clegg, “Meta wants to do its part to support America’s safety, security, and economic prosperity — and of its closest allies too. Both economic and security interests are served by the widespread adoption of American open-source AI models,” he continued.
According to a Meta representative, the company will share its technology with the United States as well as the Five Eyes intelligence partnership, which consists of Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. The Five Eyes nations would share Meta’s technology, according to a previous Bloomberg article.
As competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic compete to dominate the AI race, Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been trying to get its AI software into as many third-party developers as possible. To catch up, Meta, which had fallen behind some of those businesses in AI, chose to make its code publicly available. Over 350 million downloads of the company’s software had been made as of August.
Meta’s decision is probably going to draw criticism. Employees at Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have publicly protested some of the agreements their businesses have made with military contractors and defense agencies, highlighting the controversial military applications of Silicon Valley tech products in recent years.
Furthermore, Meta’s open-source AI strategy has drawn criticism. While Google and OpenAI contend that the technology underlying their AI software is too strong and prone to abuse to be released into the wild, Meta has stated that the only way to advance and secure AI is to let millions of people view and analyze its code.
According to two people with knowledge of the company, Meta’s leadership has been worried that open-source AI may be severely regulated by the US government and others. These concerns were heightened last week when Reuters revealed that Llama was used to develop software applications for the People’s Liberation Army by research organizations connected to the Chinese government. The report was criticized by Meta executives, who told Reuters that the Chinese government was not permitted to employ Llama for military objectives.
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According to Clegg’s blog post, the technology may be used by the US government to monitor terrorist activity and enhance cybersecurity in all US institutions. Additionally, he stated repeatedly that the United States would be able to stay technologically ahead of other countries by utilizing Meta’s AI models.
He stated that the objective should be to establish a positive feedback loop that would help the US maintain its technological advantage while expanding access to AI worldwide and guaranteeing that the innovations that emerge are morally and responsibly made to serve the strategic and geopolitical objectives of the US and its closest allies.
