- Meta will collaborate with the US government to deploy Llama AI
- No financial gain, but strategic advantages for Meta’s AI
- Llama 4 promises advances in reasoning and speed
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, wants to further position itself as a major player in the political space with a major new, broad government partnership.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that Meta is actively working with the US government to adopt its AI models, especially Llama, the company’s major language model.
Zuckerberg’s comments during a recent Meta earnings call raised several questions about the size and nature of these partnerships, especially regarding potential applications in government agencies.
Zuckerberg’s statement that Meta is “working with the public sector to adopt Llama across the US government” raises several important questions. While the details of which government departments or agencies will use Llama remain unclear, the announcement suggests Meta is taking a significant step toward embedding its AI technology into government operations.
However, the details of how Llama will be used by these government agencies are still speculative, as there is significant interest in whether Meta’s AI, specifically Llama, will have military applications. The Department of Defense and several intelligence agencies have already integrated AI in several areas, such as improving cybersecurity and automating complex decision-making.
Meta spokesperson Faith Eischen stated that there is no financial incentive for Meta in the collaboration. While Meta may not directly benefit from these AI implementations, this move positions the company as a crucial partner in government AI initiatives, which could strengthen its reputation and influence in the public sector.
Given the increasing importance of AI in both the private and public sectors, Meta’s involvement in government could increase access to large-scale public data, provide valuable real-world examples for Llama, and solidify its position as a leader in AI development . .
“We’ve been working with the U.S. Department of State to see how Lama can help address several challenges,” Eischen said, “from expanding access to safe water and reliable electricity to helping support small businesses… we’re in touch met with the Department of Education to learn how Llama can help make the financial aid process more user-friendly for students and have conversations with others about how Llama can be used for the benefit of the government.”
In addition to discussing Meta’s current AI collaborations with the government, Zuckerberg provided a glimpse into the company’s future AI developments, teasing the upcoming release of Llama 4, which will be trained in what he described as “a cluster bigger than I’ve seen. for everything else that others do.”
The company reported revenues of $40.5 billion for the third quarter of 2024, marking a 19 percent increase from the previous year. It also made a profit of $17.3 billion for the quarter, while its user base continues to grow: 3.29 billion people now use at least one of Meta’s apps every day.
Via The edge