History of Meta AI in Timeline

Meta AI is the research division of Meta Platforms, dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies. Unlike Meta's Applied Machine Learning (AML) team, which focuses on product application, Meta AI operates as an academic research lab. Its primary focus is to create and share knowledge within the AI community, driving progress in the field through open research and development.

September 2013: FAIR Officially Announced

In September 2013, Facebook officially announced the creation of Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) with locations in Menlo Park, London and Manhattan. Yann LeCun from NYU was appointed as the director of FAIR.

2014: Vladimir Vapnik Joins FAIR

In 2014, Vladimir Vapnik, a pioneer in statistical learning and co-inventor of the support-vector machine, joined Facebook AI Research (FAIR).

2015: FAIR Opens Paris Research Center

In 2015, Facebook AI Research (FAIR) expanded its operations by opening a research center in Paris, France, followed by smaller labs in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Tel Aviv, Montreal and London.

2016: FAIR Partners in AI Ethics Initiative

In 2016, FAIR partnered with Google, Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft to create the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, focusing on ethical AI research and practices.

2017: FAIR Releases PyTorch and Discontinues AI Bot Language Project

In 2017, FAIR released PyTorch, an open-source machine learning framework, and discontinued a research project after AI bots developed a language unintelligible to humans, although the project's goal had already been achieved.

2018: Jérôme Pesenti Becomes President of FAIR

In 2018, Jérôme Pesenti, former CTO of IBM's big data group, took over as president of FAIR, with Yann LeCun transitioning to the role of chief AI scientist. Also in 2018, FAIR was ranked 25th in the AI Research Rankings 2019.

2019: FAIR Ranks Eighth in AI Research

In 2019, FAIR's ranking in the AI Research Rankings rose to eighth place, reflecting its growing influence in the field.

2020: FAIR Maintains Eighth Position in AI Research Rankings

In 2020, FAIR maintained its eighth position in the AI Research Rankings, indicating consistent performance and impact in AI research.

November 2022: Meta Releases and Withdraws Galactica Language Model

In November 2022, Meta AI released Galactica, a large language model for generating scientific text, but withdrew it on November 17 due to offensiveness and inaccuracy.

2022: Meta AI Develops HyperTree Proof Search

In 2022, Meta AI created HyperTree Proof Search (HTPS), a method for proving mathematical theorems, which successfully generated proofs for 10 International Mathematical Olympiad problems in Lean.

2022: Meta AI Predicts Protein Shapes

In 2022, Meta AI successfully predicted the 3D shapes of 600 million potential proteins in just two weeks, showcasing advancements in AI-driven protein structure prediction.

2022: Meta AI Switches to Nvidia GPU

In 2022, Meta AI switched from primarily using CPU and in-house custom chips to Nvidia GPUs, necessitating a redesign of data centers for increased networking and liquid cooling.

February 2023: Meta AI Launches LLaMA

In February 2023, Meta AI launched LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI), which is a large language model with parameters ranging from 7B to 65B.

September 27, 2023: Meta AI Pre-Installed on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses

On September 27, 2023, Meta AI was pre-installed on the second generation of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses as a voice assistant, enhancing the functionality of the wearable device.

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February 27, 2024: Meta Announces Standalone AI App

On February 27, 2024, Meta announced the launch of a standalone AI app, expanding its AI ecosystem beyond social media integration and introducing a premium subscription model.

April 23, 2024: Meta AI Update Enables Multimodal Input on Smart Glasses

On April 23, 2024, Meta announced an update to Meta AI on the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, enabling multimodal input via Computer vision.

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May 2024: Meta AI Summarizes News Without Direct Links, Raising Ethical Concerns

Since May 2024, the Meta AI chatbot has been summarizing news from various outlets without linking directly to original articles, including in Canada. This practice has raised ethical and legal concerns due to the use of news content without compensation.

July 23, 2024: Meta AI with Vision Incorporated into Horizon OS

On July 23, 2024, Meta announced that Meta AI with Vision would be incorporated into v68 of Horizon OS on the Meta Quest 3 and Quest Pro for physical object detection in passthrough mode, replacing the older voice assistant software. Meta AI without Vision is also supported on the Quest 2.