Facebook parent company Meta has opted not to provide its forthcoming multimodal AI model and future updates to customers in the European Union, citing regulatory uncertainty surrounding data protection rules. The latest AI models can process a range of inputs, including text, images, and audio, and will underpin AI features across Meta’s platforms.
This decision comes on the heels of Apple’s announcement that it will not release its Apple Intelligence features in the EU due to regulatory concerns. Meta has revealed that it will, however, still release its Llama 3 text-only model in the EU.
The company’s primary concern relates to the challenges of training AI models using data from European customers while adhering to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU’s data protection law. Despite this, Meta plans to launch these new AI models in the UK, which has data protection laws similar to those in the EU.
