Meta has announced that its Llama large language model (LLM) downloads are approaching 350 million, up 10 times from the same period last year. About 20 million of those downloads were made in the last month alone, after the company released Llama 3.1, which Meta says will allow it to directly compete with OpenAI and Anthropic.
At some of Meta’s largest cloud providers, monthly usage of Llama language models has increased tenfold from January to July this year. It also notes that Llama usage on its cloud partner servers has more than doubled in tokens from May to July. In addition to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, the company has partnered with Databricks, Dell, Google Cloud, Groq, Nvidia, IBM watsonx, Scale AI, and Snowflake, among others, to make its LLMs more accessible to developers.
Open-Source Strategy and Industry Impact
Meta attributes the success of its language models to the fact that they are open-sourced. The company says that open-sourcing its LLMs has allowed it to “expand and diversify the AI ecosystem and provide more choice to developers.” When Meta released Llama 3.1, CEO Mark Zuckerberg extolled the virtues of open-source AI, calling it “a step forward.” He also said that the company is taking steps to make open-source AI an industry standard.
In its latest report, Meta also shared how its partners are using large language models, adds NIX Solutions. For example, AT&T uses Llama to more accurately search for users. DoorDash, one of the largest US food delivery companies, uses LLM to make the job of its software engineers easier. The language model is also used to generate live reactions and digital creatures in Niantic’s Peridot game. Zoom, meanwhile, uses Llama, along with other language models, to power an AI assistant that can summarize meetings and take smart notes.
As the AI landscape continues to evolve rapidly, Meta’s Llama LLM is making significant strides in adoption and usage. The company’s commitment to open-source AI is reshaping the industry and providing developers with powerful tools to innovate across various sectors. We’ll keep you updated on any further developments in this exciting field as Meta continues to challenge its competitors and push the boundaries of AI technology.