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Meta and Spotify have teamed up once again, this time to tackle the issue of open-source (or, more precisely, open-weighted) AI, which they claim is being hindered by regulations. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek complained about EU privacy regulations surrounding AI in joint statement posted on both companies’ websites on Friday. Meta, for example, claims that it is unable to train its AI on data from Facebook and Instagram due to the lack of legislation addressing how this should be dealt with.
Meta’s blog warns that “in the short-term, delaying the usage of data that are routinely used in another region means the most powerful AI model won’t reflect collective knowledge, cultures, and languages of Europe – and Europeans won’t get to use latest AI products.” It also emphasizes that Europeans will not be able access the latest open-source technology and instead, will be left with AI built for someone else.
The post also confirmed previous news that Meta will withhold its next Multimodel AI model from European Union customers due to a lack clarity from regulators. Meta notes that it will not be in a position to release future AI models such as Llama Multimodel, which is able to understand images, due to this.
Spotify credits its early investments in AI technology for the success of its streaming service, which developed a personalized user experience.
“As we look towards the future of streaming, open-source AI has tremendous potential to benefit the industry. This is particularly important when it comes down to how AI can be used to help more artists get noticed. A simplified regulatory framework would not only accelerate growth of open-source AI, but also provide vital support to European developers as well as the broader creator eco-system that contributes and thrives on this innovation,” reads its post.
If you read between the lines, there’s no doubt that Spotify would love to use Meta’s AI to improve its products, but is also affected by the lack of clarity surrounding AI regulations in the EU.
Neither of these companies is against regulation if it benefits them.
Apple is a common enemy for both parties. The EU regulators dubbed the iPhone maker as a “gatekeeper of Big Tech” before forced it to open up to alternative app stores and payment systems. Meta and Spotify did not criticize the regulation, but rather how Apple responded. In this case, Zuckerberg and Ek criticized Apple’s new business regulations for EU developers under the Digital Markets Act of the region — as being so onerous he doubted that any developer would opt-in. Spotify also calledApple’s compliance plan a “complete farce” and “extortion.”
Meta and Spotify have worked together for years. They previously teamed up to create music initiatives, which included a Miniplayer on Facebook streaming Spotify straight from the app.
