Meta Releases Llama 2 AI Model for Free Commercial Use
Meta open sources its next-generation Llama 2 large language model, making it free for both research and commercial applications. The company partners with Microsoft to distribute the technology through the Azure AI model catalog.
Meta releases Llama 2, the next generation of its large language model, as an open-source tool available free of charge for both research and commercial use. The company embraces an open approach to artificial intelligence, arguing that shared access allows a global community of developers and researchers to experiment, innovate, and identify vulnerabilities more efficiently than closed systems.
Following overwhelming demand for the original Llama model, which receives over 100,000 access requests, Meta expands this release to include model weights and starting code for pretrained and conversational fine-tuned versions. This release provides startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses with powerful AI tools that they typically lack the scale and computing power to build independently.
Meta names Microsoft as its preferred partner for Llama 2, making the model immediately available in the Azure AI model catalog. This strategic partnership accelerates the deployment of generative AI capabilities, enabling a wider range of organizations to integrate advanced language models into their own products and services.