Meta’s Muse Spark Open brings an 816-billion-parameter model for coding and multi-step tasks to Mac users, with Apple helping optimize it through MLX. While Chinese open weight models, this new model brings new capacities to locally run hardware (even if it’s $40,000 in Mac). Also privacy risks in shared Muse conversations, AI’s effect on customer service and startups, and fresh moves by Amazon, Nvidia and Meta.
Meta releases Muse Spark Open for local Mac inference
Meta released Muse Spark Open, an open-weight model for coding and multi-step tasks, and worked with Apple to optimize it for Mac computers using the MLX toolkit, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meta says the 816-billion-parameter model can run across two M5 Ultra Mac Studios and is available through download and cloud services in its announcement. The hardware requirement is substantial: the Journal puts the cost of enough Mac memory above $40,000. Apple’s research team reports that four Mac Studios generate more than 36 tokens per second, using a 4-bit version of the model in its benchmark. Meta also acknowledges that Chinese open-weight models remain stronger in some areas, including software development.
Quote of the Day
This is the culmination of my life, and at a scale I never could have imagined. I am very high on the AI optimism scale, because I am using AI for good. I want millions of people to be able to use AI for good.”
Bill Gross, founder of Idealab, WSJ
Other Links
- Ars Technica: Meta Muse exposes users' personal and business secrets when they share conversations
- NY Times: Mamdani’s Next Target: The Increasingly A.I.-Powered, Customer Service Doom Loop
- WSJ: Amazon Pledges Over $17 Billion to Expand German Operations
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: Oregon State U. Put Its Chips on Computer Science. Then the Bottom Fell Out.
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- WSJ: Nvidia, Meta and Apple Unveil New Open Models
- Ars Technica: Meta may use sweeping new commercial TOS to avoid millions in AI licensing fees
- NY Times: Meta Withdraws $25 Million from Its Midterms Push