Meta Releases Code Llama, a Code-Generating AI Model

Meta, intent on making a splash in a generative AI space rife with competition, is on something of an open source tear. From a report: Following the release of AI models for generating text, translating languages and creating audio, the company today open sourced Code Llama, a machine learning system that can generate and explain code in natural language -- specifically English. Akin to GitHub Copilot and Amazon CodeWhisperer, as well as open source AI-powered code generators like StarCoder, StableCode and PolyCoder, Code Llama can complete code and debug existing code across a range of programming languages, including Python, C++, Java, PHP, Typescript, C# and Bash. "At Meta, we believe that AI models, but large language models for coding in particular, benefit most from an open approach, both in terms of innovation and safety," Meta wrote in a blog post shared with TechCrunch. "Publicly available, code-specific models can facilitate the development of new technologies that improve peoples' lives. By releasing code models like Code Llama, the entire community can evaluate their capabilities, identify issues and fix vulnerabilities." Code Llama, which is available in several flavors, including a version optimized for Python and a version fine-tuned to understand instructions (e.g. "Write me a function that outputs the fibonacci sequence"), is based on the Llama 2 text-generating model that Meta open sourced earlier this month. While Llama 2 could generate code, it wasn't necessarily good code -- certainly not up to the quality a purpose-built model like Copilot could produce.

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