Tech Desk 
Jul 18, 2024
Meta has revealed that it will not be launching its multi-model AI model capable of handling, images, text and videos in the European Union.
For dislodging the EU launch, the company cited regulatory concerns. This will prevent European companies from using the AI model despite it being released under an open license.
“We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment,” Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin said to The Verge.
Just last week, the EU finalised its AI compliance laws for all tech companies operating in the EU. Companies will have until August 2026 to comply with regulations about, transparency, copyrights and predictive policing.
read more: Top eight AI-powered websites you must use
Apple has darted a similar chart for its Apple Intelligence due to similar concerns regarding the Digital Marketing Act.
Meta says its multimodal AI models will be utilised in products like the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. According to Axios, Meta’s EU snub will also extend to future multimodal AI model releases but excludes a larger, text-only version of the Llama 3 model that Meta says will be available for EU customers.
This is sure to be a bummer for companies wishing to access the European market, one of the world's largest.
