To stay ahead of competitors like OpenAI and Google, Meta, the social networking giant, revealed on Monday that it plans to train its artificial intelligence models using user data from privacy-conscious Europeans.
According to a blog post by Meta, it would use content that users in the European Union have opted to share openly on its platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, to train its Llama big language models.
Despite initial concern due to strict EU privacy and transparency requirements, the move seems to put the company’s approach in Europe broadly in line with how it approaches the data it feeds into its AI models from other parts of the world.
The firm is using data created by Europeans expressly to train AI models, as demonstrated by others like Google and OpenAI, according to a statement made by Stefano Fratta, head of global engagement for the company.
According to him, the information originates from individuals within the European Union (EU) who have chosen to share publicly accessible posts, comments, or images with their descriptions on Facebook and Instagram.
Large data sets are used to train AI language models, which enable them to anticipate the most likely word to appear in a phrase.
Newer iterations of these models are usually more intelligent and powerful than their predecessors.
For users in the United States and thirteen other countries—but noticeably absent from Europe—Meta’s AI assistant feature has been integrated into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
While there are still concerns about the continent’s engagement, Fratta explained the drive by describing Europe as one of the most important regions in the world and a potential leader in AI innovation.
We earlier reported that the European Commission announced that it is looking into the possibility that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram accounts could have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA).
