- OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT, while Google develops the Bard chatbot.
- Both ChatGPT and Google’s Bard are premium AI tools.
- Meta Platforms has released a free version of its own artificial intelligence model.
As the artificial intelligence (AI) race gathers momentum, Meta Platforms—the company behind Facebook and the recently launched Threads—released a new, free version of its AI model on Tuesday.
This new AI entrant will compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard and could become a reference point for future AI tools, including blockchain-based ecosystems such as AltSignals’ ActualizeAI. AltSignals is currently running a presale for its ASI token, the cryptocurrency intended to power ActualizeAI.
The AltSignals presale is now in its third phase (Stage 2) after successful BETA and Stage 1 rounds. ASI token prices have risen at each stage and are currently priced at $0.01875.
Meta’s open-source AI
Unlike OpenAI and Google, Meta has focused on releasing models for researchers rather than a closed generative AI product. Meta’s Llama language model was made available so researchers can experiment, fine-tune, and build on the technology.
Whereas leading industry models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and many other generative AI tools are proprietary and closed-source, Llama is open-source. That openness allows developers and researchers to access, inspect, modify, and adapt the underlying code. In contrast, users of most proprietary AI tools cannot review source code or receive detailed explanations of how their data is handled.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook that “open source drives innovation because it lets more developers build on new technology.” He added that when more people can examine open-source software to find and fix potential problems, “it also improves safety and security.”
Meta’s emphasis on safety highlights a difference from some other models, which have raised concerns about generating false information or producing unexpected behavior during chatbot interactions.
Llama 2, the newly released and improved version of Meta’s Llama model, will be available for companies to download or access through custom deployments on Microsoft Azure cloud services.
Microsoft raises AI pricing
Microsoft has partnerships with both OpenAI and Meta around their AI tools.
However, as companies anticipate significant financial upside from AI technology, Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it will raise prices by at least 53% to access new AI features in its widely used office software.
The company also said a more secure version of its Bing search experience will be offered to businesses soon, aiming to address data protection concerns, stimulate business interest in AI, and boost competition with Google.
Under the revised pricing, customers will be asked to pay $30 per user per month for the Microsoft 365 Copilot, which promises to draft emails in Outlook, write documents in Word, and make much employee data accessible through prompts to a chatbot, Microsoft said during its virtual Inspire conference.
Microsoft is steering businesses toward Bing Chat Enterprise, the enterprise-level chatbot in its search engine that can generate internet-based content.
Unlike the public Bing experience, which has been used by millions of web surfers in recent months, the enterprise version will not allow viewing or storing user data to train its underlying models. Employees must sign in with work credentials to receive that data protection.