Meta and IBM inaugurate an international ‘AI Alliance’ comprising 50 organizations to advance open-source AI
In a joint announcement on Tuesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and IBM revealed the establishment of a groundbreaking coalition designed to promote the progress of open-source artificial intelligence technologies. The ‘AI Alliance’ boasts over fifty founding members, spanning major technology corporations, startups, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.
The participating entities range from established industry leaders like Oracle, Dell Technologies, and Intel to esteemed universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Imperial College London.
The primary focus of the “AI Alliance” is to cultivate an open community that empowers developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI. Meta and IBM, in a joint press release, emphasized their commitment to scientific rigor, trust, safety, security, diversity, and economic competitiveness.
“By bringing together leading developers, scientists, academic institutions, companies, and other innovators, we will pool resources and knowledge to address safety concerns while providing a platform for sharing and developing solutions that fit the needs of researchers, developers, and adopters around the world,” stated Meta and IBM.
Key Highlights:
- Collaboration between Meta and IBM
- Formation of the AI Alliance with 50 founding members
- Advancement of open-source AI
- Emphasis on responsible innovation
- Participation of major tech corporations, startups, academic institutions, and nonprofits
The alliance aims to introduce and support open technologies, sharing them freely to enable developers and scientists to comprehend models and tools. Additionally, it seeks to advocate for open innovation with leaders from organizations, society, policy and regulatory bodies, and the general public.
“We believe it’s better when AI is developed openly — more people can access the benefits, build innovative products and work on safety,” expressed Nick Clegg, the president of global affairs at Meta.
While proponents of open-source AI argue that it fosters transparency and advancement, critics contend that making powerful systems accessible to the public could potentially enable bad actors to misuse the technology. The article also draws a comparison with closed-source AI, citing Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool as an example, highlighting its valuation and growth.
“The AI Alliance brings together researchers, developers, and companies to share tools and knowledge that can help us all make progress whether models are shared openly or not,”* continued Clegg. *”We’re looking forward to working with partners to advance the state-of-the-art in AI and help everyone build responsibly.”
Disclaimer: This article was published on December 5, 2023, and information may be subject to change.
