Meta Platforms (META.O) unveiled early editions of its newest large language model, Llama 3, and a real-time image generator alongside it, as the company races to compete with generative AI leader OpenAI. These models will be integrated into Meta AI, touted as the most advanced among its free-to-use counterparts, with comparisons against Google and Mistral AI.
Meta plans to feature the updated Meta AI prominently in its Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger apps, as well as on a standalone website, positioning it to directly challenge Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Visitors to the site are encouraged to interact with the assistant for tasks like creating packing lists or playing trivia.
To catch up with OpenAI, Meta has invested heavily in computing infrastructure and merged research and product teams. It has also made its Llama models available to developers for free, a move that raises safety concerns but could disrupt rivals’ revenue plans. Llama 3 includes coding capabilities and will eventually generate both text and images, with future versions planned to enhance reasoning abilities.
