Meta Platforms on Monday said it will roll out a new tool called AI Studio that will allow users to create, share and design personalized AI chatbots.

The AI Studio will allow users to create customized AI characters and also allow Instagram creators to use the AI characters “as an extension of themselves” that can handle common DM questions and story replies, Meta said.

Users can share their AI characters on the social media giant’s various platforms.

The new tool is built with Meta’s Llama 3.1, the biggest version of its mostly free artificial intelligence models released last week, which is available in multiple languages and has performance metrics that compete with paid models from rivals like OpenAI.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working on a project code-named “Strawberry,” the details of which are tightly kept secret even within OpenAI, as the startup races to show that the types of models it offers are capable of delivering advanced reasoning capabilities, Reuters exclusively reported earlier in July.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

Meta Platforms released the biggest version of its mostly free Llama 3 artificial intelligence models on Tuesday, boasting multilingual skills and general performance metrics that nip at the heels of paid models from rivals like OpenAI.

The new Llama 3 model can converse in eight languages, write higher-quality computer code and solve more complex math problems than previous versions, the Facebook parent company said in blog posts and a research paper announcing the release.

With 405 billion parameters, or variables that the algorithm takes into account to generate responses to user queries, it dwarfs the previous version released last year though is still smaller than leading models offered by competitors.

OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, by contrast, is reported to have one trillion parameters and Amazon is preparing a model with 2 trillion parameters.

Promoting Llama 3 across multiple channels, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said he expected future Llama models would overtake proprietary competitors by next year. The Meta AI chatbot powered by those models was on track to become the most popular AI assistant by the end of this year, with hundreds of millions of people using it already, he said.

The release comes as tech companies are racing to show that their growing portfolios of resource-hungry large language models can deliver significant enough gains in known problem areas like advanced reasoning to justify the gargantuan sums that have been invested in them.

Meta’s own top AI scientist has said he believes such models will hit up against limits on reasoning and that other types of AI systems will be needed to produce breakthroughs.

In addition to its flagship 405 billion parameter model, Meta is also releasing updated versions of its lighter-weight 8 billion and 70 billion parameter Llama 3 models initially introduced in the spring, the company said.

All three new models are multilingual and can handle larger user requests via an expanded “context window,” which Meta’s head of generative AI, Ahmad Al-Dahle, said would improve the experience of generating computer code in particular.

“That was the number one feedback we got from the community,” Al-Dahle told Reuters in an interview, noting that bigger context windows give the models something akin to a longer memory that aids in processing multi-step requests.

Separately, Al-Dahle said his team had been able to improve the Llama 3 model’s performance on tasks such as solving math problems by using AI to generate some of the data on which they were trained.

Meta releases its Llama models largely free-of-charge for use by developers, a strategy Zuckerberg says will pay off in the form of innovative products, less dependence on would-be competitors and greater engagement on the company’s core social networks. Some investors have raised their eyebrows at the costs entailed, however.

The company also stands to benefit if developers opt to use its free models over paid ones, which would undercut the business models of its rivals. With its announcement, Meta touted gains on key math and knowledge tests that may make that prospect more appealing.

Although measuring progress on AI development is notoriously difficult, test results provided by Meta appeared to suggest that its largest Llama 3 model was nearly matching and, in some cases, besting Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which are widely regarded as the two most powerful frontier models on the market.

On the MATH benchmark of competition level math word problems, for example, Meta’s model posted a score of 73.8, compared to GPT-4o’s 76.6 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet’s 71.1.

The model scored 88.6 on MMLU, a benchmark that covers dozens of subjects across math, science and the humanities, while GPT-4o scored 88.7 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet scored 88.3.

In their paper, Meta researchers also teased upcoming “multimodal” versions of the models due out later this year that layer image, video and speech capabilities on top of the core Llama 3 text model.

Early experiments indicate those models can perform “competitively” with other multimodal models such as Google’s Gemini 1.5 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, they said.   

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sao Paulo:

Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it decided to suspend use of generative artificial intelligence tools in Brazil in response to the government’s objections to its new privacy policy regarding personal data and AI.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

With more than 200 million people, Brazil is a crucial market for Meta. For example, Brazil has the second-largest user base for Meta’s WhatsApp after India.

In June, Meta hosted an event in Sao Paulo to launch its first AI-driven ad targeting program for businesses on the popular chat service.

CONTEXT

Earlier this month, Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) decided to suspend with immediate effect the validity of Meta’s new privacy policy for the use of personal data to train generative artificial intelligence systems in the country.

ANPD ruled that the company would need to adapt its privacy policy to exclude the section related to the processing of personal data for generative AI training, according to the Brazilian authority.

KEY QUOTE

In a statement, Meta said it has decided to suspend the tools while it is in talks with ANPD to address the authority’s doubts over generative artificial intelligence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Google has begun rolling out an exciting update to its Messages app, integrating Gemini AI to enhance functionality and user interaction directly within chats.

This development follows Google’s recent announcement and the initial introduction of Gemini AI on other platforms like Gmail, according to GSM Arena.

The Gemini AI integration aims to streamline user experience by providing quick access to artificial intelligence capabilities without leaving the Messages app.

Users will notice a new floating action button positioned above the “Start chat” button in the lower-right corner of the interface, facilitating easy access to the AI service.

Although the feature is currently not widely available, Google assures users that Gemini AI functions similarly to its standalone counterpart on Android devices, as per GSM Arena.

This integration allows users to ask questions, receive information, or issue commands seamlessly while continuing their conversations within Messages.

It’s important to note that Gemini AI respects user privacy by not scanning private conversations.

However, interactions with the AI chatbot are not end-to-end encrypted, prompting users to exercise caution when sharing sensitive information.

Google also provides options for users to manage their chat history with Gemini, allowing storage customization from default settings of 18 months up to 36 months or as low as 3 months.

Regarding privacy concerns, Gemini AI does not track user location beyond general details derived from IP addresses or home addresses to provide relevant information.

As the update continues to roll out, users can look forward to enhanced capabilities and streamlined interactions within the Messages app.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)