Meta Brings AI LlaMa 2 to Microsoft and Telecom Giant Qualcomm

Meta’s LlaMA 2 large language modeler will soon be open to everyone to build off, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday. But regardless of where else it might end up, the AI tool will definitely be used by both Microsoft and Qualcomm to power their products, according to reports Tuesday.

During the Microsoft Inspire conference on Tuesday, the company announced that in partnership with Meta, Facebook's parent company, LlaMA 2 will be available both on Microsoft Windows and on the cloud computing service Azure. 

“Llama 2 is designed to enable developers and organizations to build generative AI-powered tools and experiences,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Azure AI John Montgomery wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

“Meta and Microsoft share a commitment to democratizing AI and its benefits and we are excited that Meta is taking an open approach with Llama 2.”

Microsoft's announcement comes on the same day that wireless pioneer Qualcomm revealed it is partnering with Meta to use LlaMA 2. In a press release published Tuesday, the company said it was working to make the model available on smartphones and PCs that use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform.

“The ability to run generative AI models like Llama 2 on devices such as smartphones, PCs, VR/AR headsets, and vehicles allows developers to save on cloud costs, and to provide users with private, more reliable, and personalized experiences,” Qualcomm stated in the release. 

The partnership will allow developers to create “use cases, such as intelligent virtual assistants, productivity applications, content creation tools, entertainment” that are available even when a device is on airplane mode or otherwise unable to connect to a wireless network, the company stated. 

"We applaud Meta’s approach to open and responsible AI and are committed to driving innovation and reducing barriers-to-entry for developers of any size by bringing generative AI on-device,” Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager of technology, planning and edge solutions businesses at Qualcomm, is quoted in the release.

“To effectively scale generative AI into the mainstream, AI will need to run on both the cloud and devices at the edge, such as smartphones, laptops, vehicles, and [Internet of Things] devices.”

LlaMA 2 will be available for Snapdragon-powered devices in 2024, though developers “can start today optimizing applications for on-device AI using the Qualcomm® AI Stack — a dedicated set of tools that allow to process AI more efficiently on Snapdragon, making on-device AI possible even in small, thin, and light devices.”