IBM collaborates with Saudi Arabia on AI, to open source models later.

IBM Releases Series of Open-Source AI Models

(Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) announced on Tuesday that it will release a series of artificial intelligence models as open-source software and help Saudi Arabia train an Arabic language AI system.

IBM Adopts Open Strategy for Competitive Differentiation

Based in Armonk, New York, IBM has opted for a different monetization strategy compared to some competitors like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which tightly protects its AI models and charges for access. Similar to Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), IBM provides open access to the models themselves, and on Wednesday, it made its "Granite" AI model series available for enterprise customization.

Providing Developer Tools and Value-Added Services

Granite tools are designed to help software developers quickly complete computer code. To profit from these models, IBM offers a paid tool called Watsonx, which helps run the customized models smoothly within data centers.

IBM's strategy is to profit whenever customers actually use the AI models, whether these models come from IBM or other companies, and whether they run in IBM's data center or not.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Reuters, "We believe we are in the early stages of generative AI models. Ultimately, competition is beneficial for buyers. We also hope for this to be safe and responsible."

Additionally, IBM stated that the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority will use Watsonx to train its "ALLaM" Arabic model, adding new language skills to IBM's products, including the ability to understand various Arabic dialects.