Google delves deeper into open source with launch of Gemma AI model
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is introducing new open large language models that it’s calling Gemma, reversing its general strategy of keeping the company’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology out of public view.
Gemma, which will handle text only, has been built from the same research and technology used to create the company’s flagship AI model, Gemini, Google said Wednesday in a blog post. It will be released in two sizes, one targeted at customers who plan to develop artificial intelligence software using high-capacity AI chips and data centers, and a smaller model for more cost-efficient app building.
Google developed the technology that underpins generative AI, but has lagged behind OpenAI and the startup’s partner, Microsoft Corp., in creating products that can automate tasks like summarizing reports, writing software code or creating ad campaigns.
While the release of the more open Gemma models might seem in contrast with the company’s earlier goals in AI, Google said it’s simply a continuation of its history of innovation in the opensource world.
Company leaders pointed toward earlier moves to make its internal AI engine TensorFlow free for developers and introducing so-called transformers to the world — the key building blocks that make up today’s most widely used large language models, including OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT.
“It’s a new opportunity for us to build something that we can work on with the community to create new opportunities in AI research and development, in partnership with people both inside and outside of Google,” Tris Warkentin, a Google DeepMind director of product management, said in an interview.
Some observers — including a few of Google’s employees — have criticized the internet search giant for losing its edge in AI to the open-source community. Last year, Google senior software engineer Luke Sernau penned a widely-shared critique of the company, initially published on an internal system, arguing that many independent researchers have used open-source tools to make rapid and unexpected advances in AI. “We have no secret sauce,” Sernau wrote at the time. “Our best hope is to learn from and collaborate with what others are doing outside Google.”
In the months since Sernau’s missive went viral, Google’s focus on proprietary AI has given way to a broader approach — including moving deeper into the world of opensource tools.