FirstFT: Meta to launch commercial AI model to take on Google and OpenAI

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We have a scoop today on Meta’s imminent release of a commercial version of its artificial intelligence model to compete with Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

Meta had already released LLaMA, its own large language model (LLM) trained on huge amounts of data, earlier this year. But it is now going to launch a new version that will be more widely available and customisable by companies, three people familiar with the plans said.

The tech giant says its LLMs are “open-source,” by which it means details of the new model will be released publicly. This contrasts with the approach of competitors such as OpenAI, whose latest model GPT-4 is a so-called black box in which the data and code used to build the model are not available to third parties.

Meta’s impending release comes as a race among Silicon Valley tech groups to establish themselves as dominant AI participants is heating up. Just yesterday, Twitter owner Elon Musk formally launched xAI, staffed by a team hired from OpenAI and research lab DeepMind.

We have a packed agenda for the day ahead:

• Economic data: The International Energy Agency and Opec release their monthly oil market reports. France has consumer inflation data and the US has producer price inflation figures, both for last month. The UK releases gross domestic product estimates and data for trade and production in May.

• Europe meetings: US president Joe Biden is in Helsinki for a summit with Nordic leaders. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi arrives in Paris where he will be President Emmanuel Macron’s guest of honour at tomorrow’s Bastille Day parade. Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida meets EU leaders in Brussels.

• Central banks: The European Central Bank publishes its account of its monetary policy discussions for last month. The Bank of England has results from its Credit Conditions Survey.

• NHS: Junior doctors begin the longest single walkout by doctors in the British health service’s history as NHS England releases statistics including for waiting times.

Five more top stories

1. The $1.35tn US junk bond market has shrunk 13 per cent from its all-time peak in late 2021 as the steep rise in interest rates has deterred companies from selling new bonds and pushed borrowers to the private market. But some investors are worried these dynamics are giving false signals about the health of the world’s largest economy.

• Related: US inflation fell sharply to 3 per cent last month, highlighting the relative success of the Federal Reserve’s tightening campaign.

2. Disney has extended Bob Iger’s contract until the end of 2026, prolonging what was meant to be a short-term stay for the chief executive after he returned to the world’s largest entertainment company last November. Here’s why the board voted unanimously for the two-year extension.

3. Tensions with Ukraine spilled into the open at the Nato summit this week after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised an “absurd” lack of a clear timeline for his country’s entry into the military alliance. The UK defence secretary, in response to Kyiv’s military wish list, said western allies wanted “gratitude”, adding: “You know, we’re not Amazon.”

• Opinion: France built vast, expensive border fortifications that ultimately proved useless against Nazi Germany. Nato is dangerously close to repeating this failure, writes Aspen Security Forum executive director Anja Manuel.

4. Rishi Sunak is expected to back a 6% pay rise for public sector workers when he speaks to UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt today. The prime minister has said any pay rises for the year cannot be funded by more borrowing as it would “fuel inflation”. Here are more details ahead of the meeting.

5. Huw Edwards has been named as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images. His wife said yesterday that she decided to name him “out of concern for his mental wellbeing” and to protect their children. Metropolitan Police meanwhile said they had found no evidence of any criminal offence.

The Big Read

Ever since the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act last year, some US allies have viewed the new subsidies as a thinly veiled exercise in protectionism. A German minister even likened it to “a declaration of war”. But the anger in Europe and Asia has now given way to a search for ways to catch up in the race to secure tomorrow’s key industries.

We’re also reading . . .

Chart of the day

Olive oil prices are surging further into record-breaking territory after an extended period of unusually dry weather in southern Europe damaged crops. The matter has become a hot topic in Spain, the world’s largest producer and where olive oil is a staple product with an outsized influence on economic sentiment.

Take a break from the news

Want some fresh fashion inspiration for the summer? The FT’s deputy fashion editor Carola Long suggests looking to Ken, the real style star of the upcoming Barbie movie.

Additional contributions by Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith