Meta decided to withhold its forthcoming multimodal AI models from customers in the EU region

Amidst regulatory uncertainty in the European Union (EU), Meta has made the decision to withhold its multimodal AI models from the region. The move entails preventing customers and developers from utilizing Meta's AI models to build services in Europe. Meta's upcoming multimodal AI models, capable of processing text, images, and audio, have now been excluded from the European market due to a lack of clarity from EU regulators.

In a statement given to Axios, Meta explained their decision, stating, "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." This announcement follows a similar move by Apple, which also decided not to release its Apple Intelligence features in Europe due to regulatory concerns.

The withholding of Meta's multimodal AI models holds significant implications as companies relying on Meta's models for their product offerings will be unable to provide them within European markets. This aligns with Margrethe Vesteger, the EU's competition commissioner's remarks regarding Apple's decision, viewing it as an impediment to fair competition by a dominating player in the market.

Engadget contacted Thomas Regnier, an EU spokesperson, who declined to provide explicit remarks concerning individual company decisions, citing the need for companies themselves to ensure compliance with EU legislation. Nonetheless, Regnier emphasized that all companies are welcome to offer their services in Europe as long as they adhere to the bloc's laws, including the forthcoming Artificial Intelligence Act.

Despite the decision to withhold the multimodal AI models, Meta asserts that it still plans to release Llama 3, the text-only variant of its models, in the EU. Meta's primary concerns revolve around the challenges of training AI models using European customer data while complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Earlier, SSP reported that Chinese regulators review AI models for socialist values.