On Tuesday, Eastern Time, more than 50 companies, organizations, and academic institutions worldwide jointly established an artificial intelligence industry organization called the “AI Alliance,” led by Meta and IBM.
Members of the AI Alliance include AMD, Intel, Oracle, Stability AI, SoftBank, Sony, Dell and other enterprises; as well as academic institutions such as Cornell University, the University of Tokyo and the National Science Foundation. However, it does not include OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
As OpenAI leads in the field of artificial intelligence development raceway，Meta and other companies hope to promote open-source artificial intelligence work through the establishment of this alliance. They aim to establish industry safety standards for artificial intelligence in order to share technology and reduce risks associated with a single dominant player like OpenAI.
With various forces gathering together challenging OpenAI?
Since ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI at the end of last year，it has become an inevitable topic when discussing artificial intelligence. In terms of artificial intelligence development raceway，OpenAI is undoubtedly in a leading position within the industry. However，the AI models developed by OpenAI are not open source; they are mainly managed by OpenAI itself and require other companies to pay for their use.
This is precisely why IBM and Meta want to form an AI alliance – they seek to create an open-source model for developing artificial intelligence in order to build a more diverse AI ecosystem.
To give an inappropriate analogy: if we compare OpenAI with Apple in the era of Artificial Intelligence then what Meta wants to do is create something similar but different from that which exists today – just like Android did during its time against Apple’s iOS system。
Dario Gil，Senior Vice President & Director at IBM Research said that since August this year IBM has been working with Meta on bringing together organizations that have not received attention like those given towards OpenAi。
“Frankly speaking we were somewhat dissatisfied with the overall debate and discussion about artificial intelligence last year,” Gil said. “We don’t think it reflects the diversity of the ecosystem. And to make the AI era possible, diversity in the ecosystem is necessary.”
Nick Clegg，Global Affairs President at Meta stated in a statement: “We believe that AI development should be open so that more people can benefit from it and develop innovative products.”
Supporters of these open-source artificial intelligence technologies believe that forming an alliance can more effectively cultivate highly complex open-source artificial intelligence systems. In recent months, Meta has been releasing open-source versions of its large-scale language models to provide a foundation for AI chatbots.
The AI Alliance stated in its declaration that they will focus on responsible development of AI technology, including security and cybersecurity tools, pooling resources to support “open innovation and open science,” increasing the number of open-source AI models, developing new hardware, collaborating with academic researchers, and ultimately establishing governance committees and technical oversight committees.
Building diversity within ecosystems
Since senior management conflicts occurred at OpenAI at the end of November this year，many companies have realized the risks associated with relying too heavily on a single artificial intelligence supplier. Many enterprises have begun exploring alternative solutions other than ChatGPT as viable options.
Gil from IBM said that now is an opportune time for establishing an Artificial Intelligence Alliance which highlights this information. He believes that forming an Artificial Intelligence Alliance and developing open-source artificial intelligence may be a more flexible path for artificial intelligence development because no specific institution can disrupt the success of an open engine.
“If you think that the future of Artificial Intelligence will be determined by two or three or five institutions then you are wrong,” Gil said. “I hope it makes people realize more clearly and confidently that a world based on openness is worth betting on.”
Ritu Jyoti，Vice President at IDC’s Global Artificial Intelligence Group commented saying for those companies looking for more partners，the promotion of the AI Alliance may be attractive. However, “it will depend entirely on how they execute it.”
According to IDC’s forecast, global enterprise spending on generative artificial intelligence solutions alone is expected to reach nearly $16 billion this year. By 2027, this expenditure is projected to increase dramatically to $143 billion. IDC also stated that from 2023 to 2027, the compound annual growth rate for generative artificial intelligence will be nearly thirteen times that of global IT spending.