Meta is pushing for the federal government to make use of its AI

Meta is “working with the general public sector to undertake Llama throughout the US authorities,” in keeping with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The remark, made throughout his opening remarks for Meta’s Q3 earnings name on Wednesday, raises lots of essential questions: Precisely which components of the federal government will use Meta’s AI fashions? What’s going to the AI be used for? Will there be any sort of military-specific functions of Llama? Is Meta getting paid for any of this?

After I requested Meta to elaborate, spokesperson Religion Eischen informed me through e-mail that “we’ve partnered with the US State Division to see how Llama may assist tackle completely different challenges — from increasing entry to protected water and dependable electrical energy, to serving to assist small companies.” She additionally mentioned the corporate has “been in contact with the Division of Schooling to learn the way Llama may assist make the monetary support course of extra person pleasant for college students and are in discussions with others about how Llama may very well be utilized to learn the federal government.”

She added that there was “no cost concerned” in these partnerships.

There’s additionally the cozying as much as the federal government that Meta’s AI rivals are doing. OpenAI and Anthropic lately mentioned they might share their fashions with the US AI Security Institute forward of time for security screening. Google’s on-and-off-again relationship as an AI vendor for the Pentagon is properly documented. In a current weblog publish, OpenAI mentioned its fashions had been being utilized by DARPA⁠, the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth⁠, and the Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory.

Whereas we wait to find out about Meta’s AI work with the federal government, Zuckerberg teased a bit extra in regards to the subsequent Llama mannequin on the Q3 earnings name. He mentioned model 4 is coaching on “a cluster larger than I’ve seen reported for anything others are doing” and that he expects “new modalities,” “stronger reasoning,” and “a lot quicker” efficiency when it debuts subsequent yr.

He acknowledged that Meta plans to proceed spending extra on AI in 2025, which is “possibly not need buyers need to hear within the close to time period.” However he sees the upside as being value it.

“I’m fairly amped about all of the work we’re doing proper now,” he mentioned. “This can be probably the most dynamic second I’ve seen in our business, and I’m targeted on ensuring that we construct some superior issues and profit from the alternatives forward.”

As a enterprise, Meta continues to be persevering with to develop. The corporate reported income of $40.5 billion for Q3, a 19-percent enhance from a yr in the past, and $17.3 billion in revenue. And it claims that 3.29 billion individuals use a minimum of one in every of its apps every day, a rise of 5 % from a yr in the past.

Replace, October thirtieth: Added extra particulars from Meta spokesperson.