Meta plans to build AGI and open it to developers
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shared the company's plans to develop its own artificial general intelligence (AGI) and eventually make it accessible to developers. In a Threads video, Zuckerberg stated, "It's become clearer that the next generation of services requires building full general intelligence." He further added, "Our long-term vision is to build general intelligence, open source it responsibly, and make it widely available so everyone can benefit."
What is AGI?
AGI can be described as artificial intelligence that can either meet or even surpass human intelligence in almost all categories. As per Zuckerberg, it is a necessity for creating the best AI for chatbots, creators, as well as businesses. The goal is to create software with the ability to self-teach. They will be able to perform tasks that they are not necessarily trained or developed for.
Meta's AI research groups and hardware
To accomplish this goal, Meta intends to merge its two primary AI research groups, FAIR and GenAI, to speed up the company's progress. Zuckerberg also disclosed that Meta is on track to acquire around 350,000 NVIDIA AI chips by the year's end to manage the necessary processing power. He believes that Meta's AI vision and the virtual metaverse are interconnected.
Industry reaction and AI arms race
Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester Research, remarked that Meta's shift toward AI is expected, considering the industry's push to adopt AI. He said, "That trope around 'every company is now a technology company' has evolved to be every company is now an AI company." As major tech firms like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon unveil new AI tools and visions amid an intensifying AI arms race, concerns have emerged about potential unintended harms caused by products from these companies.
