Listen To Story Above

In a notable shift, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has announced it will allow U.S. government agencies and contractors working on national security to use its AI models for military purposes. This decision, reported by The New York Times, marks a significant change in Meta’s “acceptable use policy.”

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, stated that the company’s AI models, known as Llama, will be made available to federal agencies and defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen, Palantir, and Anduril. The open-source nature of Llama models means they can be freely copied and distributed by other developers, companies, and governments.

This move represents a departure from Meta’s previous stance, which prohibited the use of its AI software for military, warfare, and nuclear industries. The company believes that supporting the U.S. government and its closest allies in AI usage serves both economic and security interests. Meta plans to share its technology with members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which includes Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, alongside the United States.

Meta’s decision to open-source its AI code has been part of its strategy to compete with rivals like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic in the AI race. As of August, Meta’s software had been downloaded over 350 million times by third-party developers. However, this approach has raised concerns about the potential misuse of such powerful technology.

Meta executives have expressed worries about potential harsh regulations on open-source AI by the U.S. government and others. These concerns were heightened following a Reuters report that research institutions with ties to the Chinese government had used Llama to develop software applications for the People’s Liberation Army. Meta disputed this report, stating that the Chinese government was not authorized to use Llama for military purposes.

Clegg emphasized that the U.S. government could use the technology to track terrorist activities and enhance cybersecurity across American institutions. He also stressed that utilizing Meta’s AI models would help the United States maintain its technological edge over other nations.

This decision is likely to draw scrutiny, as collaborations between Silicon Valley tech companies and military contractors or defense agencies have been controversial in recent years. Employees at Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have previously protested deals their companies made with military entities.