Meta is pushing for the government to use its AI

Meta is “working pinch the nationalist assemblage to adopt Llama crossed the US government,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The comment, made during his opening remarks for Meta’s Q3 net telephone connected Wednesday, raises a batch of important questions: Exactly which parts of the authorities will usage Meta’s AI models? What will the AI beryllium utilized for? Will location beryllium immoderate benignant of military-specific applications of Llama? Is Meta getting paid for immoderate of this?

When I asked Meta to elaborate, spokesperson Jon Carvill declined to remark beyond Zuckerberg’s little remark to investors. The societal media elephantine is pushing its AI connected the authorities astatine an absorbing time. For one, statesmanlike nominee Donald Trump has recently threatened to jailhouse Zuckerberg, moreover arsenic the CEO has tried to publically region himself — and Meta’s products— from politics.

There’s besides the cozying up to the authorities that Meta’s AI rivals are doing. OpenAI and Anthropic recently said they would stock their models pinch the US AI Safety Institute up of clip for information screening. Google’s on-and-off-again narration arsenic an AI vendor for the Pentagon is good documented. In a caller blog post, OpenAI said its models were being utilized by DARPA⁠, the U.S. Agency for International Development⁠, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

While we hold to study astir Meta’s AI activity pinch the government, Zuckerberg teased a spot much astir the adjacent Llama exemplary connected the Q3 net call. He said type 4 is training connected “a cluster bigger than I’ve seen reported for thing other others are doing” and that he expects “new modalities,” “stronger reasoning,” and “much faster” capacity erstwhile it debuts adjacent year.

He acknowledged that Meta plans to proceed spending much connected AI successful 2025, which is “maybe not want investors want to perceive successful the adjacent term.” But he sees the upside arsenic being worthy it.

“I’m beautiful amped astir each the activity we’re doing correct now,” he said. “This whitethorn beryllium the astir move infinitesimal I’ve seen successful our industry, and I’m focused connected making judge that we build immoderate awesome things and make the astir of the opportunities ahead.”

As a business, Meta is still continuing to grow. The institution reported gross of $40.5 cardinal for Q3, a 19-percent summation from a twelvemonth ago, and $17.3 cardinal successful profit. And it claims that 3.29 cardinal group usage astatine slightest 1 of its apps each day, an summation of 5 percent from a twelvemonth ago.