Meta just released Llama 3.1, the most recent version of its open source model family, alongside its prized 405B model — the first-ever open sourced frontier AI model.
We sat down for an exclusive interview with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, diving into why this marks a serious moment for the AI community. Let’s get into it…
In our interview:
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Meta releases Llama 3.1 405B
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Open source for the greater good
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Meta’s vision: lessons from the past
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Zuck’s prediction for the long run of AI agents
– Rowan Cheung, founder
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EXCLUSIVE Q&A WITH MARK ZUCKERBERG
LLAMA 3.1
🦙 Meta releases Llama 3.1 405B
Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown
The Rundown: Meta just released Llama 3.1 alongside its prized 405B model, achieving state-of-the-art performance across key benchmarks and becoming the first-ever open sourced frontier model, marking a serious milestone in open source AI development.
Cheung: “Are you able to give us the rundown on all the things being released and why it is vital?”
Zuckerberg: “The large release today is Llama 3.1, and we’re releasing three models. That is the primary time we’re releasing a 405 billion parameter model. It’s by far probably the most sophisticated open source model that I feel anyone has put out, and it really sort of is competitive with a number of the leading closed models and in some areas is even ahead.”
Cheung: “The benchmarks look incredible. Are there any specific real-world use cases that you just’re really enthusiastic about seeing people construct with the models?“
Zuckerberg: “The thing that I’m most enthusiastic about is seeing people use it to distill and fine-tune their very own models… By our estimates, it is going to be 50% cheaper, I feel, than GPT-4 to do inference directly on the 405B model.”
Why it matters: Zuckerberg views Llama 3.1 as a pivotal moment for open source AI, potentially becoming “the open source AI standard” akin to Linux’s impact on operating systems. By offering a cheap, customizable alternative to closed AI systems, Meta goals to democratize AI to empower “every startup, enterprise, and government” to create their very own tailored AI solutions.
OPEN SOURCE
🤗 Open source for the greater good
Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown
The Rundown: Alongside the most important AI announcements from Meta, Zuckerberg published an open letter detailing his thoughts on open source AI and it’s advantages for the greater good — which we further explored in our interview.
Cheung: “Are you able to talk more about what the broad societal implications are of open source AI?”
Zuckerberg: “There are awesome things that AI goes to bring when it comes to productivity gains and creativity enhancements for people, and hopefully, it’ll help us with research and things like that. But I feel open source is a crucial a part of how we ensure that that this advantages and is accessible to everyone, and is not something that is just locked right into a handful of huge corporations.”
Cheung: “One other thing you mentioned in your letter is that open source AI can speed up innovation and economic growth. How is that this already happening, and the way do you see this happening more in the long run?“
Zuckerberg: “There are lots of folks today who haven’t got access to fine-tune or construct their very own state-of-the-art models. They’re limited to what large labs do.” Meta wants to present “startups, hackers, academics, and universities access to models they’ll construct on, tweak, and distill right down to run on their very own devices. This may unlock a ton of progress.“
Why it matters: Zuckerberg’s open-source AI strategy goals to make state-of-the-art AI accessible to everyone, from individuals to nations, potentially starting a brand new wave of worldwide innovation. He argues this approach is just not just more accessible but “safer than the choice of closed development,” stating that we’ll see a “massive equalizing effect” on technological progress.
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META VS. CLOSED AI
🚀 Meta’s vision: lessons from the past
Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown
The Rundown: In his open letter, Zuckerberg also discusses the open versus closed AI ecosystem, reflecting on previous personal experience where Meta was constrained by what Apple allowed them to construct on their platforms.
Cheung: “I used to be just a little shocked by how directly you called out Apple and their closed approach. Are you able to expand on that and where Apple has been a blocker for Meta and potentially others?”
Zuckerberg: “I actually don’t understand how they will approach AI. They do some open development, they do some closed development. I just think that on this case, open models are going to be the usual, and I feel that it’s going to be good for the world.”
Zuckerberg added: “I’m not saying that Apple’s necessarily going to be within the mistaken place on this for AI, but in case you look back during the last 10 or 15 years, it has been a formative experience for us is constructing our services on top of platforms which can be controlled by our competitors and for numerous different incentives.”
Zuckerberg added: “It’s just a little bit soul-crushing once you go construct features which can be what you suspect is sweet on your community, and then you definitely’re told you can’t ship them because some company desires to put you in a box in order that they’ll higher compete with you.“
Why it matters: Zuckerberg argues that closed systems inherently result in innovation bottlenecks and unfair competition. His vision for an open AI ecosystem is not only about Meta’s interests—it’s about fostering industry-wide innovation and stopping a monopoly on AI development. As he puts it, “I need to revive the industry to the state where the open ecosystem is definitely the one which is leading.”
PREDICTIONS
📈 Zuck’s prediction for the long run of AI agents
Image credits: Kiki Wu / The Rundown
The Rundown: Zuckerberg predicts a world with billions of personalized AI agents and emphasizes the importance of open source development to make sure widespread advantages and mitigate potential risks.
Cheung: “What’s your 10-year plan or long-term vision of what you think that goes to occur with AI and AGI?”
Zuckerberg: “Our vision is that there must be lots of different AI on the market and AI services, not only one singular AI… I feel we’ll live in a world where there are going to be a whole bunch of tens of millions or billions of various AI agents eventually, probably more AI agents than there are people on the planet.“
Zuckerberg added: “Every business in the long run, similar to they’ve an email address, a web site, and a social media presence today, goes to have an AI agent that their customers can discuss with in the long run.”
Cheung: “What aspects do you think that shall be crucial in changing anti-AI perspectives?”
Zuckerberg: “I feel [open source] is essential because if this develops in a way where it’s only a small variety of corporations that construct the products and profit and folks use the products and possibly they like talking to an AI assistant and that is beneficial for them, but when this does not not directly help lift all boats, then I feel you find yourself eventually getting a backlash.”
Why it matters: Zuckerberg’s vision challenges the thought of a singular, dominant AI system. He advocates for “lots of different AI on the market and AI services, not only one singular AI,” aiming to democratize AI. This approach could foster widespread innovation and address societal concerns. As he warns, “If this does not not directly help lift all boats, then I feel you find yourself eventually getting a backlash.”
GO DEEPER
INTERVIEW
🎥 Watch the total interview live
In the total interview with Mark Zuckerberg & Rowan Cheung:
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Dive deep into the technical features of Llama 3.1 and its potential applications
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Understand the challenges and opportunities of open-source AI development
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Hear Zuckerberg’s thoughts on AI regulation and ethical considerations
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Get full insights on Meta’s AI strategy and future product roadmap
Listen on Twitter/X, or YouTube.
AI TRAINING
FREE WORKSHOP
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To have a good time the launch of Llama 3.1, we’re hosting a free live workshop series, starting this Friday.
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🎓️ Led by The Rundown’s AI professor, Dr. Alvaro Cintas
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🗓️ 3 live sessions covering basics to advanced topics
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