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China has used an available Llama AI model to make its own AI tool that may be used in China's military, according to three research papers reviewed by Reuters.
Two institutions tied to the Chinese military were involved in the research to develop "ChatBIT," which is based on Llama 13B. They used the AI to gather and process military intelligence data. In the future, it may be used in its military for training or analysis purposes.
ChatBIT may have only been trained on about 100,000 military records, however, which is a very small dataset for an AI model. This means it may not be as capable as the research suggests, Meta VP of AI Research and McGill University Professor Joelle Pineau told Reuters.
Meta's rules bar the use of Llama models for "military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications" or espionage, but these restrictions are difficult to enforce if the model is re-shared and used outside of the US.
Meta has claimed that it has taken steps to prevent misuse of its models, and said in a statement that "any use of our models by the People's Liberation Army is unauthorized and contrary to our acceptable use policy." Meta released its 13B model back in February last year, but said at the time that it would only be available to researchers. It's unclear whether the Chinese researchers were granted access to the model directly, or whether they obtained it through other means.
Meta suggested that the Llama model in question is irrelevant and "outdated" considering China's AI research because the country is developing much more advanced models that could even surpass current US-developed ones.
Unfortunately, AI tools and models have been misused for a range of different purposes already. Political deepfakes are currently the top malicious use of AI. AI image and video generators have been used for political misinformation campaigns. AI-powered audio has been used to try to dissuade US voters from going to the polls. And AI-powered bots have been deployed by Russia, Israel, and Iran across social media to influence elections or sway public opinion on global policy.
China and the US have an ongoing tech rivalry, as well. The countries have sanctioned each other's tech, from chips to drones, and China is developing its own advanced AI chips and even a Neuralink competitor. The US has poured billions into its domestic semiconductor manufacturing industries since 2022 and is trying to stop China from getting access to the world's most advanced chips and AI tech. But Chinese firms and institutions have found plenty of loopholes to get advanced AI chips for years.
Some policy experts have argued that open-source AI is important for open innovation and equality, and that it's not less safe than closed models. But open-source or accessible AI means that anyone can ultimately use it—including China.