Meta, the parent company of Facebook
In a strategic move, Meta, has joined forces with Hugging Face and European cloud infrastructure firm Scaleway to launch an innovative AI-focused startup program. This initiative will be based at the renowned Station F startup campus in Paris, aiming to foster a more open and collaborative approach to AI development within the French technology landscape.
The announcement comes at a pivotal time, coinciding with an intensifying call for AI regulation and an evident conflict between the “open” and “closed” AI sectors. Major tech players like Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, advocate for increased regulation while simultaneously developing formidable AI technologies. The debate centers on the perceived risks associated with open source AI, with concerns raised about potential manipulation by malicious actors.
Contrary to this stance, Meta aligns itself with those pushing for greater openness. Last week, Meta’s Chief AI Scientist, Yann LeCun, joined over 70 signatories advocating for openness in AI development, cautioning against hasty regulatory decisions. The letter emphasized that openness and transparency are crucial for achieving safety, security, and accountability in AI.
In this context, Meta’s collaboration with Hugging Face, a prominent player in the open source AI space, is significant. While Meta has been open sourcing its generative AI models, Hugging Face, a billion-dollar VC-backed startup, positions itself as an open source alternative to OpenAI. The partnership reflects their shared commitment to the “open” approach in AI development.
The newly introduced “AI Startup Program” at Station F is open for applications until December 1, 2023. Startups with projects substantially based on open foundation models or a willingness to integrate these models into their products can apply. Five selected winners will proceed to the accelerator program, running from January to June. A panel of judges from Meta, Hugging Face, and Scaleway will evaluate the applicants.
The objective of the program is to leverage the proliferation of foundation models and generative AI models, bringing the economic and technological benefits of open, state-of-the-art models to the French ecosystem.
Notably, Meta has opted to collaborate with Scaleway
a smaller, independent European player, instead of major cloud infrastructure companies. The winning startups will receive mentoring from Meta’s researchers and engineers, access Hugging Face’s platforms and tools, and benefit from compute resources provided by Scaleway.
While Meta continues to pursue its ambitious metaverse goals, the shift in focus over the past year has led to the creation of this accelerator program. Originally focused on VR/AR/MR technologies, Meta’s renewed emphasis on the ChatGPT and generative AI landscape underscores the dynamic nature of the tech industry.
