No Llama 3 for EU
July 31, 2024
Frustrated with European regulators, Meta is ready to take its AI ball and go home. Axios reveals, “Scoop: Meta Won’t Offer Future Multimodal AI Models in EU.” Reporter Ina Fried writes:
“Meta will withhold its next multimodal AI model — and future ones — from customers in the European Union because of what it says is a lack of clarity from regulators there, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The move sets up a showdown between Meta and EU regulators and highlights a growing willingness among U.S. tech giants to withhold products from European customers. State of play: ’We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment,’ Meta said in a statement to Axios.”
So there. And Meta is not the only firm petulant in the face of privacy regulations. Apple recently made a similar declaration. So governments may not be able to regulate AI, but AI outfits can try to regulate governments. Seems legit. The EU’s stance is that Llama 3 may not feed on European users’ Facebook and Instagram posts. Does Meta hope FOMO will make the EU back down? We learn:
“Meta plans to incorporate the new multimodal models, which are able to reason across video, audio, images and text, in a wide range of products, including smartphones and its Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Meta says its decision also means that European companies will not be able to use the multimodal models even though they are being released under an open license. It could also prevent companies outside of the EU from offering products and services in Europe that make use of the new multimodal models. The company is also planning to release a larger, text-only version of its Llama 3 model soon. That will be made available for customers and companies in the EU, Meta said.”
The company insists EU user data is crucial to be sure its European products accurately reflect the region’s terminology and culture. Sure That is almost a plausible excuse.
Cynthia Murrell, July 31, 2024
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