Meta Releases Llama 2 AI Models for Free Commercial Use
Meta launches Llama 2, a family of large language models available for free download and commercial applications. The tech giant partners with Microsoft and Amazon to host the models on their respective cloud platforms.
Meta releases Llama 2, a new collection of large language models that developers can download for free and use for commercial purposes. The suite includes pretrained and fine-tuned text-based AI models in three sizes, containing seven billion, 13 billion, and 70 billion parameters. Unlike the previous LLaMA model, which restricted usage to research, this latest version invites anyone to request access and build commercial products or services.
The social media giant partners with Microsoft and Amazon to make Llama 2 available on Azure and AWS cloud platforms. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg argues that open source drives innovation by allowing more developers to build with new technology, while also improving safety through broader community scrutiny. This partnership notably occurs as Microsoft simultaneously champions OpenAI's models.
Despite being described as open source by some, Llama 2 comes with specific usage caveats under its Community License Agreement. Developers cannot use the model's outputs to improve other large language models, and applications supporting over 700 million monthly active users require a special license from Meta. Furthermore, the custom license does not appear on the Open Source Initiative's official list of approved open source licenses.