Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to Instagram on Tuesday to call out the tech industry, saying it should focus its generative AI efforts on open models rather than closed ones like those developed by OpenAI, Google, and others.

In a blog post on the topic, Zuckerberg said open-source AI models would ultimately prove more secure and efficient as developers and researchers around the world fine-tuned them over time.

Tech giants are currently in a battle over whether closed-source or open-source AI models should be the path forward for AI. Closed-source models are, generally, those that are only available to a company's customers and limit how much they can be manipulated at a base level, if at all.

Open-source AI models are available to any interested researchers or developers who can manipulate the models' code. Think something like the difference between Apple's (AAPL) iOS operating system, which is closed, and Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) Android, which is open.

"Open source will ensure that more people around the world have access to the benefits and opportunities of AI, that power isn’t concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, and that the technology can be deployed more evenly and safely across society," Zuckerberg wrote in his post.

In calling for the industry to rally around open-source AI, Zuckerberg is also rolling out the latest version of Meta's open-source Llama AI model, Llama 3.1, which the CEO says is among the most advanced in the industry. What's more, he says he anticipates the model will become the most advanced beginning next year.

Zuckerberg's Meta is going up against some of the biggest names in AI, including OpenAI and Google. Both companies offer their flagship AI models as closed-source software options, though they provide open-source models as well.

Zuckerberg says that making flagship AI models open source will improve security and overall capabilities, since a larger number of researchers and developers will be able to examine them from a base level, allowing them to catch flaws over time.

There are also concerns that open-source models will give the US's rivals, including China, easy access to high-powered AI technologies. But Zuckerberg claims that the US's adversaries could simply steal the code related to closed models and gain access to them that way. Closed models, he says, would also limit availability of AI technology to a small group of powerful companies.

Zuckerberg writes that leading companies should work with the government to help ensure they can take advantage of open-source AI models, ensuring they have a lead over other countries' governments.

Part of Zuckerberg's emphasis on open-source technology has to do with his distaste for Apple's iOS and the iPhone maker's ability to control how Meta updates its apps. Meta also offers its own open-source programming languages that have proven popular across the web, including React.

It's difficult to tell whether open-source or closed-source AI models will win out at the moment. In reality, it's unlikely either will dominate the market in the long run. Ultimately, we'll likely see a split between closed-source and open-source models, just as we've seen with enterprise and consumer-level software programs throughout the years.

Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielHowley.

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