Does OpenAI have a sustainable business model? ChatGPT usage is down (from its initial astronomical numbers), but – more importantly – by the numbers, the power users are engineers. When it comes to coding, GPT-4 makes good engineers great and it makes bad engineers better.
Last week, Meta launched Code Llama: an open source, AI model specifically fine-tuned for coding tasks. This is interesting as the bulk of GPT-4's commercial power users now have a free alternative. Code Llama comes in various sizes (7B, 13B, and 34B parameters) and can be configured to run in a wide range of computational environments. It can generate code in multiple languages – including Python, Java, JavaScript, C#, and Bash – and it's available for both research and commercial use.
Beyond code generation, Code Llama can explain code in natural language, serving as a tool for software developers. Additionally, it can be embedded in business applications to auto-generate and execute code snippets based on natural language prompts.
In terms of performance, Meta's research positions Code Llama ahead of GPT-3.5 on multiple code benchmarks. Independent tests by Snowflake and AI startup Phind further validate its capabilities, with some results nearing GPT-4 performance in specific tasks.
Is Code Llama a threat to OpenAI? Just remember: "free" is very pro consumer!
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s [email protected]
P.S. Tomorrow on an all-new Shelly Palmer LIVE, I'll talk about how we can get paid for helping to train AI models, ChatGPT for Teachers and my AI policy, OpenAI's copyright defense strategy, ChatGPT Enterprise, and – just for fun – some iPhone 15 rumors. Join me tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. ET on YouTube Live. Get notified here.
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
