Meta Refuses EU Release Of Multimodal Llama AI Model

Meta Platforms has stated it will withhold its upcoming multimodal Llama AI model from the European Union, citing concerns about its regulatory environment.

“We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment,” Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin told The Verge.

Meta’s upcoming multimodal AI model is capable of handling video, audio, images, and text, but the decision to not release it in the European Union will prevent European companies from using it, despite it being released under an open license in other regions.

Not for EU

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been criticised earlier this year for his stated intention to build artificial general intelligence (AI) systems and make them “widely available” to the public.

Now Meta’s decision not to launch its upcoming multimodal Llama model in the European Union comes after the bloc last week finalised the compliance deadlines for AI firms under its strict new AI Act.

Tech companies operating in the EU have until August 2026 to comply with rules around copyright, transparency, and AI uses such as predictive policing, the Verge noted.

The passing of the EU’s AI Act came despite France, Germany and Italy reportedly campaigning for foundation models to be left to self-regulate, in order to ensure EU companies would not be competitively hampered by excessive red tape.

However the European Parliament had argued the technology was too important to be governed by companies on their own initiative.

Withholding tech

And Meta is not the only US tech giant withholding technology in the European Union.

Apple recently stated it would likely exclude the EU from its Apple Intelligence rollout due to concerns surrounding the Digital Markets Act.

Apple’s decision to restrict its AI deployment in the European Union was blasted by the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.

Meta has also halted plans to release its AI assistant in the EU and paused its generative AI tools in Brazil – both due to concerns raised about data protection compliance.

A text-only version of Meta’s Llama 3 model will still reportedly launch in the EU.