Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has this week released an open-source version of an artificial intelligence model, Llama 2, for public use. The large language model (LLM), which can be used to create a ChatGPT-like chatbot, is available to startups, established businesses and lone operators. But why is Meta doing this and what are the potential risks involved? LLMs underpin AI tools such as chatbots. They are trained on vast datasets that enable them to mimic human language and even computer coding.

Nick Clegg has defended the release of an open-source artificial intelligence model by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, as he claimed that "hype" about AI's dangers was running ahead of the technology's development. The president of global affairs at Meta and former UK deputy prime minister spoke on Wednesday after the company said it was opening access to its new large language model (LLM), Llama 2, which will be free for research and commercial use. LLMs are trained on vast amounts of data and underpin generative AI products such as the ChatGPT chatbot. Some experts have warned that making AI models open source – or freely available to use and adapt for unique purposes – could lead to the technology being used for malicious purposes. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Clegg said: "My view is that the hype has somewhat run ahead of the technology. I think a lot of the existential warnings relate to models that don't currently exist, so-called super-intelligent, super-powerful AI models – the vision where AI develops an autonomy and agency on its own, where it can think for itself and reproduce itself. "The models that we're open-sourcing are far, far, far short of that.