Meta is also doing the same in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Meta Platform Inc. has allowed U.S. government agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models, opening the door for Meta’s technology to play a key role in military and national security efforts.
The Facebook-parent company is making its large language model, called Llama, available to more than a dozen U.S. agencies and contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc.
While Meta’s AI models are open source, meaning they are free for developers to use, the company’s “acceptable use policy” prohibits people from using them on any projects related to “the military, warfare, the nuclear industry or applications, [and] espionage,” among other things.
But Meta is making an exception for U.S. defense agencies and their contractors as it works to expand its reach into the public sector and gain Llama’s foothold in the rapidly escalating AI arms race.
“As an American company, and one whose success owes itself largely to the entrepreneurial spirit and democratic values that the United States was built upon, Meta wants to do its part to support the safety, security, and economic prosperity of the United States — and that of its closest allies,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post Monday.
A spokesperson confirmed that Meta is also making Llama available to similar government agencies and contractors in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Those countries have an intelligence-sharing partnership known as Five Eyes.
Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, was not included in the current list of partners.
The move comes on the eve of the US election and at a time when Meta is facing some concerns about the potential for developers in countries like China to use Llama for military applications.
Large language models are the foundation of the current AI boom and can be used for a wide range of services, including powering chatbots. In the world of defense and security, Llama could help with tasks like analyzing data and synthesizing documents or “tracking terrorist financing or strengthening our cyber defenses,” Clegg wrote.
Meta will not have a say in how US agencies or its partners use Llama technology, but a Meta spokesperson said via email that “countries leveraging AI for national security have a responsibility to deploy AI ethically, responsibly, and in accordance with relevant international law.”
Meta’s motivation for working with US defense agencies is partly driven by its intention to establish Llama as a major base for AI products globally. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg made Llama open source because he wants to have more control over the next big tech wave — a strategy that only works if Meta’s technology is ubiquitous.
On an earnings call last week, Zuckerberg said he was trying to “inspire the public sector to adopt Llama in the U.S. government.” The latest update could help achieve that goal as well as pave the way for Zuckerberg to further develop relationships with elected officials.
Meta has been criticized in the past few years for its alleged failure to control user speech and protect young people online. Former President Donald Trump has launched several attacks on Zuckerberg in recent months, even suggesting he might try to put Meta’s founder in jail if he’s re-elected to the White House.
Meta is also framing its decision to work with U.S. defense agencies as a way to prevent U.S. adversaries like China from gaining ground. “We believe it is in the interest of both the United States and the broader democratic world that the American open-source model succeed and outperform the models in China and elsewhere,” Clegg wrote.
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