Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of US online social media and social networking service Facebook, recently announced the creation of a new product group inside the company focused on generative AI. This new set of machine learning techniques allow computers to generate text, draw pictures, and create other media that resemble human output. The new group will be organized under current Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, and will be aimed at creating “creative and expressive” tools to be used inside Meta's products. Zuckerberg cited examples such as chat in WhatsApp and Messenger, creative Instagram filters and ad formats, and video and multi-modal experiences.
The move is in response to other big tech companies and well-capitalized startups that have been touting advances in machine learning techniques and incorporating artificial intelligence models into their products. For example, OpenAI has integrated large language models into a Microsoft Bing chatbot and a separate chatbot called ChatGPT, while Google is working on a chatbot named Bard. Additionally, Snap recently announced that it would integrate a ChatGPT bot into its Snapchat app. Meta also announced their own large language model called LLaMA, which is available to researchers and is smaller and less expensive to use than larger models.
Overall, the AI race is heating up, and big tech companies like Meta are not going to let competitors pass them by.