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The next generation of the open-source large language model, Llama 2, is now available for both research and commercial use. This advancement in AI technology is a result of the collaborative efforts of Meta and Microsoft, and it’s designed to empower businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers with tools that might otherwise be challenging for them to develop independently.
Generative AI has been making significant strides, and the potential it holds is immense. It’s not just about creating new economic and social opportunities, but also about providing new ways for individuals, creators, and businesses to express themselves and connect with people. The open-source approach to AI model development is believed to be safer and more beneficial, as it allows a community of developers and researchers to stress test the models, identify and solve problems quickly, and learn from the usage patterns of others.
The first version of Llama saw a huge demand from researchers, with over 100,000 requests for access. The success stories of those who built on top of it have been truly inspiring. Now, with Llama 2, the aim is to take this success to the next level. The model weights and starting code for the pretrained model and conversational fine-tuned versions are included in the open-source offering.
In addition to being available for free, Llama 2 is also available in the Azure AI model catalog, thanks to the partnership with Microsoft. This allows developers using Microsoft Azure to build with it and leverage their cloud-native tools for content filtering and safety features. It’s also optimized to run locally on Windows, providing developers with a seamless workflow as they bring generative AI experiences to customers across different platforms. Llama 2 is also available through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hugging Face, and other providers.
The partnership between Microsoft and Meta has been beneficial for both businesses and individuals. Together, they’ve introduced an open ecosystem for interchangeable AI frameworks, co-authored research papers to advance the state of the art in AI, and collaborated to scale the adoption of PyTorch, a leading AI framework created by Meta and the AI community, on Azure.
With Llama 2, the focus is not just on providing access to foundational AI technologies but also on promoting responsible use. To ensure this, several resources have been provided, including red-teaming exercises for safety testing, a transparency schematic explaining fine-tuning and evaluation methods, a responsible use guide with best practices for development and safety evaluations, and an acceptable use policy.
In addition, Meta has launched a new partnership program for academic researchers to deepen understanding of the responsible development and sharing of large language models. They’ve also initiated the Llama Impact Challenge to encourage a diverse set of public, non-profit, and for-profit entities to use Llama 2 to address environmental, educational, and other important challenges.
The world is eagerly waiting to see the innovative solutions that will be built with Llama 2. The future of generative AI is here, and it’s open for everyone to explore and benefit from. What are your thoughts on this development? Share your insights in the comments below.
