Meta announced on Monday that it will permit US national security agencies and defense contractors to use its open-source artificial intelligence model, Llama. This decision was made shortly after Reuters reported that an older version of Llama had been employed by researchers to create defense applications for China's military. Typically, Meta's guidelines forbid using its open-source language model for "military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage, " but it is making an exception for US agencies and contractors, as well as similar agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as reported by Bloomberg. According to Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, these responsible and ethical applications of open-source AI models like Llama will not only enhance the US's prosperity and security but also establish US open-source standards in the global race for AI leadership. Among the government contractors able to use Llama are: Amazon Web Services, Anduril, Booz Allen, Databricks, Deloitte, IBM, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Oracle, Palantir, Scale AI, and Snowflake. Meta stressed the importance of developing AI that surpasses China's advancements—a point frequently mentioned by members of the US Congress when discussing AI regulation. "In an era where national security is closely tied to economic output and innovation, the widespread use of American open-source AI models benefits both economic and security interests, " Clegg wrote.

"Countries like China understand this too and are investing heavily in developing their open-source models to outpace the US. " According to Reuters, two researchers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) accessed and utilized an older version of Llama to create a chatbot for military intelligence gathering. Meta stated that this use of Llama was "unauthorized. " US regulators have consistently expressed their determination to surpass other nations, particularly China, in developing the most advanced AI for national security. Last week, the White House issued its first memo outlining the federal government's approach to AI national security policy, emphasizing the need to "harness AI to achieve national security objectives" and expedite AI procurement from the private sector. "Developments at the forefront of AI will significantly impact national security and foreign policy in the near future, " the memo stated.