Meta releases Muse Spark Open model, built to run on Mac Studios
Meta released Muse Spark Open, an open-weight AI model that developers can download and run on their own computers, CNBC and Axios reported. It has 816 billion parameters, CNBC said. Meta worked with Apple so the model can run on linked Mac Studios with M5 Ultra chips, both outlets said.
Meta on Thursday released Muse Spark Open, an open-weight artificial intelligence model, and teamed up with Apple so it can run on the iPhone maker's high-end desktop computers, CNBC and Axios reported.
The model has 816 billion parameters, CNBC reported. Because it is open-weight, developers can download its parameters, or weights, and run it on a wide range of hardware, CNBC said. Meta says it is the most powerful U.S.-developed open-weight AI model available, Axios reported.
Meta worked with Apple to make the model run locally on connected Mac Studios with Apple's M5 Ultra chips, using Apple's MLX framework, Axios reported. CNBC said customers can pair between two and four Mac Studios. Running the model locally instead of in the cloud adds security and saves users money, the companies said, according to CNBC.
The hardware is not cheap. A Mac Studio with the needed M5 Ultra chip and 256GB of memory costs at least $10,799, CNBC reported.
Muse Spark Open is not Meta's most advanced model. "These aren't the most capable models that we've developed or released," Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang told CNBC. Meta released its proprietary Muse Wonder model earlier this week, CNBC reported.
The partnership is a rare one for two longtime rivals that have clashed over privacy, both outlets reported. "We're excited for mommy and daddy to be playing nice again," Wang told Axios. He credited Daniel Gross, a former Apple executive now at Meta, with helping bring the companies together, both outlets reported.
Because the model runs on users' own machines, Meta does not receive their prompts or other information, Axios reported.
Representatives for Apple and Meta declined to say whether the work was the start of a deeper relationship, CNBC reported. The Guardian reported that Meta says the model rivals and in some cases outperforms leading Chinese open-weight models.
What we know: Meta released an 816-billion-parameter open-weight model tuned to run on linked Mac Studios.
What we don't: Whether Apple and Meta will expand the partnership, and how widely developers will use the model.
Where outlets agree CNBC and Axios both report that Meta's open-weight Muse Spark Open model can run locally on linked Apple Mac Studios with M5 Ultra chips after the two rivals worked together.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.