According to the financial app Smart Finance, Meta Platforms (META.US) has obtained approval from US government institutions and defense contractors to use its ai models, opening the door for Meta's technology to play a key role in military and national security work.

The company is providing its large language model called Llama to over a dozen US institutions and contractors, including lockheed martin (LMT.US), booz allen hamilton holding corp (BAH.US), and Palantir (PLTR.US).

Although Meta's ai models are open source, allowing developers to use them for free, the company's "acceptable use policy" prohibits people from using them in any projects related to "military, warfare, nuclear industry or applications, (and) espionage activities."

However, meta is making an exception for usa defense institutions and their contractors, as the company is committed to expanding its influence in the public sector and increasing Llama's foothold in the emerging ai arms race.

Meta's global affairs chief Nick Clegg wrote in a blog post on Monday: "As an American company, Meta's success is largely due to the entrepreneurial spirit and democratic values ​​that America upholds, Meta hopes to contribute to supporting the security, safety, and economic prosperity of the United States and its closest allies."

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that the company will also provide Llama to similar government institutions and contractors in the united kingdom, canada, australia, and new zealand. These countries make up an intelligence-sharing organization called the "Five Eyes Alliance."

Israel is one of usa's closest allies in the Middle East but is not currently included in the list of partners.

Large-scale language models are the basis of the current artificial intelligence boom and can be used for various services, including powering chatbots. Clegg wrote that in the defense and security field, Llama can help with tasks such as data analysis and synthesizing documents, or "tracking terrorism financing or enhancing our network defense".

Meta has no say in how US institutions or their partners use Llama technology, but a Meta spokesperson stated via email, "Countries using artificial intelligence to safeguard national security have a responsibility to deploy AI ethically and responsibly, in accordance with relevant international laws".

Part of Meta's motivation for collaborating with US defense institutions is to further establish Llama as the foundational leader of global artificial intelligence products. CEO Zuckerberg is open-sourcing Llama because he wants more control over the next major technological wave—a strategy that can only be effective given Meta's ubiquitous technology.

During last week's earnings call, Zuckerberg mentioned that he is working to have "the public sector adopt Llama throughout the entire US government." The latest updates may help achieve this goal and pave the way for Zuckerberg to further develop relationships with elected officials.

For years, Meta has faced criticism for its role in regulating user speech and alleged failures to protect young people online. In recent months, former President Trump has repeatedly criticized Zuckerberg, even suggesting that if he were to return to the White House, he might try to have the Meta founder locked up.