30s Summary

Meta, formerly Facebook, is allowing the U.S. military and defense contractors to use its AI model, Llama, for national security. Llama will aid in simplifying logistics, monitoring terrorist financing, and enhancing cyber defenses. Meta is collaborating with major tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM to offer services to the U.S. government. Meta also underlines the importance of advocating for open-source technologies to maintain a technological advantage, particularly over China. Recently, Chinese research institutions used an early version of Llama to build its AI military tools without Meta’s permission.

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So, here’s the scoop. Meta, the tech giant formerly known as Facebook, is letting the U.S. military and defense contractors use its AI model called Llama for national security reasons.

What’s Llama gonna do there? It’s going to help simplify complex logistics and planning, keep an eye on terrorist financing trails, and beef up America’s cyber defenses. That’s the word from Nick Clegg, the big boss of global affairs at Meta.

And that’s not all. Meta is teaming up with some of the biggest names in tech like Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM to offer full-scale services to the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, Meta is stressing how it’s super crucial for the U.S. and its allies to keep advocating for open-source technologies. Why? To maintain a tech advantage over China and other rivals.

In fact, using open-source systems has helped the U.S. build one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world. According to Clegg, it accelerates defense research, helps identify security flaws, and improves communication. It’s also a huge win for the public sector and can boost the private sector, as it’s closely linked with economic growth.

Apparently, China and other countries get this too, and they’re hustling to develop their own open-source models and get a tech lead over the U.S.

This announcement from Meta comes hot on the heels of a report that Chinese research institutions tied to the People’s Liberation Army used an early version of Llama to construct its AI military tools. Meta execs weren’t too happy about this, calling it an unauthorized use of Llama.

In other news, Meta’s new AI partnership means that Oracle will get to use Llama to make aircraft maintenance docs easier to understand for technicians. Amazon and Microsoft will host Llama on their cloud solutions to protect important data. Lockheed Martin, Scale AI, Accenture, Anduril, Booz Allen, Databricks, Deloitte, Leidos, and Snowflake are all playing a part in this too.