Telecom
Meta, Microsoft open AI Model for Commercial Use
Facebook parent Meta has partnered with Microsoft to unveil its ChatGPT rival: the Llama 2 open source artificial intelligence (AI) model.
According to a Microsoft blog post, the new free-to-use model enables developers and organisations to build generative AI-powered tools and experiences.
Llama 2 will be distributed by Microsoft through its Azure cloud service and will run on the Windows operating system.
“Today’s announcement builds on our partnership to accelerate innovation in the era of AI, and further extends Microsoft’s open model ecosystem and position as the world’s supercomputing platform for AI,” says John Montgomery, corporate vice-president of Azure AI.
Meta used the acronym LLaMA, for Large Language Model Meta AI, to describe the first version of its model. It’s now dropped the capital letters for its second version, Llama 2.
Microsoft says Azure users can now fine-tune and deploy the 7B, 13B and 70B-parameter Llama 2 models on Azure. In addition, Llama will be optimised to run locally on Windows.
Windows developers will be able to use Llama by targeting the DirectML execution provider through the ONNX Runtime, it adds.
Meta and Microsoft previously partnered up on AI with a collaboration to integrate ONNX Runtime with PYTorch, to create a developer experience for PyTorch on Azure. Azure is also Meta’s preferred strategic cloud provider.
“Meta and Microsoft share a commitment to democratising AI and its benefits, and we are excited that Meta is taking an open approach with Llama 2.
“We offer developers choice in the types of models they build on, supporting open and frontier models, and are thrilled to be Meta’s preferred partner as they release their new version of Llama 2 to commercial customers for the first time,” says Montgomery.
In a Facebook post, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg says: “Open source drives innovation because it enables many more developers to build with new technology. It also improves safety and security because when software is open, more people can scrutinise it to identify and fix potential issues. I believe it would unlock more progress if the ecosystem were more open, which is why we’re open-sourcing Llama 2.”
According to Reuters, the announcement of Llama 2 comes after Google and Amazon gave business customers a range of AI models to choose from. Amazon is marketing access to Claude – AI from start-up Anthropic – in addition to its own family of Titan models. Google has said it plans to make Claude and other models available to its cloud customers, it adds.
Zuckerberg says the Llama model can be downloaded directly or through Microsoft. “With Microsoft, you can access these models through Azure, along with Microsoft’s safety and content tools. There is also an optimised version that you can run locally on Windows.”
The AI race is heating up rapidly, with X Corp CEO Elon Musk announcing his own AI firm, xAI. Musk is leading the firm, which comprises former employees from US technology firms, such as OpenAI, Microsoft Research and Google Research.
Meta may shut down its Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in protest against the substantial fines imposed by multiple government agencies.
The tech giant has been ordered to pay nearly $300 million in fines in Africa’s most populous nation, following regulatory demands which Meta described as “unrealistic.”
In July 2024, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), imposed a $220 million fine on Meta for allegedly discriminatory and exploitative practices against Nigerian consumers.
The commission stated that Meta had failed to engage a Data Protection Compliance Organisation and had not submitted a Nigeria Data Protection Regulation audit report for two consecutive years.
Similarly, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), demanded $37.5 million over unapproved advertising, while the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), announced a $32.8 million fine for an alleged data privacy breach.
Meta challenged the decisions at the Federal High Court in Abuja but was unsuccessful, as the court upheld the fines in a ruling delivered last week.
The court directed the company to comply with payment by the end of June, but Meta has indicated it may not do so, according to the BBC.
“The applicant may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” the company stated in court documents.
Responding to the NDPC’s assertion that Meta’s data processing could expose Nigerian users to health and financial risks, the company said the agency had failed to “properly interpret the laws guiding data privacy.”
Telecommunications services disrupted in Kogi State have resumed following a resolution of the dispute between MTN Nigeria and the state government, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has said.
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON, told TVC News that the issues that led to the shutdown of telecom masts in the state, primarily affecting MTN, had been addressed, paving the way for service restoration.
TVC News earlier reported that businessmen and women were counting their losses as they suffered the impact of a shut down of telecommunication service in Kogi State
Over the past two weeks, telecoms connectivity had been erratic, with competing brands experiencing glitches, particularly in the Lokoja metropolis.
The State government suspended the operations of some telecom services citing unpaid taxes and fibre-related dues.
The shutdown stemmed from a compliance dispute between MTN and the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency, which accused the telecom giant of violating operational rules and under-declaring the extent of its optic fibre network coverage in the state.
The protracted Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt misunderstanding between the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and telecommunications operators appears to have been resolved.
This was confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, Thursday, March 1, when he appeared on Arise TV to speak on the firm’s first-quarter 2025 result, where the telecommunications company reported over N1 trillion in revenue earnings.
Recall that the USSD debt had been a major issue between the DMBs and telcos and had lasted for about five years.
In the third quarter of 2024, the telcos had threatened to withdraw their service over the lingering debt, which was around N200 billion at the time. This led to the swift intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and an agreement was reached on payment.
As of November 2024, the NCC put the debt at N160 billion. However, earlier this year, when it appeared the banks were not forthcoming with payments, the NCC directed the telcos to withdraw the USSD services from debt-owning DMBs, where about 18 banks were listed.
This directive prompted the banks to look inward and start to comply with an earlier circular signed by the CBN and NCC, which articulated the payment patterns for the debt.
Speaking, on Arise TV this morning, May 1, Toriola confirmed that the matter has been fully resolved and that banks have made payments.
“I can confirm that the matter has been fully resolved. We have received payments in full. Special thanks to the CBN, NCC, the banks, and other stakeholders that intervened in the matter,” the MTN CEO stated.
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