Exciting Developments in Open Source Language Models: The Falcon Model
The AI community is witnessing a significant shift with the rise of truly open-source models that outperform their predecessors. Recently, the Falcon model developed by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in the UAE has gained traction for its high performance, rivalling even GPT-3 in usefulness. This royalty-free model is making strides in the language learning machine (LLM) ecosystem, fostering a commendable spirit of openness and cooperation.
The Falcon model's flexibility extends to various platforms. It's not as simple as running "GGML -> llama.cpp," but it is PyTorch-compatible, potentially enabling compatibility with GPTQ or similar tools.
The TII has also hinted at working on an even more advanced model - a 180B version - which might become a premium, paid model due to its superior capabilities. This gives users the opportunity to access a top-tier model that can be run on personal devices.
An intriguing aspect is the idea of fitting the 40b model into 24gb of vram using either sparsification or a memory-efficient inference algorithm, which would significantly broaden its applicability. While there are ongoing discussions and attempts to run this model using 4bit on a single GPU, it's not yet a straightforward task, as indicated by user experiences on Hugging Face.
Some users have raised concerns about the possibility of reinstating royalties in the future, after many have begun utilizing the model. While this concern is valid, the hope is that the initial commitment to open-source and royalty-free licensing will prevail.
Lastly, the Falcon model stands as a reminder for governments about the potential pitfalls of premature AI regulation. As countries explore AI, the importance of a free and open AI community cannot be overstated. The UAE's leap in this direction is an exciting development, and we look forward to seeing how it evolves.
Tags: Open-Source, AI, Language Learning Model, Falcon Model, PyTorch-Compatible, TII, UAE, AI Regulation