Striving to uphold its relevance in the booming AI sector, Meta is pioneering a new venture, the Open Innovation AI Research Community. This innovative organization seeks to foster a spirit of transparency, innovation, and collaboration among AI researchers.
The initial focus of the organization will center on the privacy, safety, and security of large language models, refining AI models, and setting the agenda for future research. While Meta's researchers are expected to participate in the initiative, the Open Innovation AI Research Community will be primarily member-led. Meta AI, Meta's AI R&D group, will act only as a facilitator.
In a blog post, Meta describes the group as a practice community promoting collaboration around large open-source foundation models, aiming to raise questions and share insights on building responsible and safe models. It also envisions accelerating the training of future AI researchers.
While Meta plans to sponsor a series of workshops centered around open research questions and developing responsible model development guidelines, the specifics of the initiative remain fuzzy. Possible future plans include a dedicated website, social collaboration channels, and academic conference submissions. However, funding appears to be a gray area, with Meta not committing any capital or computing resources to the group's activities.
Despite past controversies surrounding AI, Meta is optimistic about the initiative. Joelle Pineau, VP of AI research at Meta, sees the Open Innovation AI Research Community as the next step in their commitment to responsibly developing and sharing large language models.
However, skepticism looms as the initiative is seen as mere performance from a company with a controversial past in AI. Critics question Meta's sincerity and resource commitment, given the minimal initial investment.
Will the Open Innovation AI Research Community reshape the landscape of AI research and overturn past controversies? It seems unlikely, but only time will tell. The initiative opens its doors to professors with relevant AI experience, fostering a diverse and inclusive community. Applications are open until September 10, marking the beginning of a potential new era in AI research.
