Apple and Meta Collaborate to Bring 816B-Parameter Muse Spark Open AI Model to Macs

Apple and Meta are collaborating to bring Meta's Muse Spark Open AI model to Apple's high-end Macs. Meta is releasing Muse Spark Open, a model similar to Muse Spark 1.3. Meta says Muse Spark Open is the most powerful U.S.-developed open-weight AI model available. The model has 816 billion parameters. Meta worked with Apple to run the model locally across two or four connected Mac Studios powered by Apple's M5 Ultra chips, using Apple's MLX framework.

Meta's model will be free to download, with a license allowing commercial use. The model will also be available through cloud providers and developer tools. Meta's AI chief Alexandr Wang said Apple and Meta have been working together for several months. Wang said Daniel Gross, a former Apple executive now at Meta, played a key role in bringing the companies together. Wang expressed enthusiasm about the companies working together again.

The collaboration demonstrates the potential for companies to build their own AI systems on Apple hardware. That capability could give companies more alternatives to Nvidia GPUs and proprietary models from leading AI laboratories, potentially changing AI economics. Western AI companies have released powerful open-weight systems that promise lower AI costs, greater company control and an alternative to China's AI ecosystem. Nvidia released updated versions of its Nemotron family of models on Tuesday. U.S.-based Reflection AI and France's Mistral released new open-source models last week.

Apple and Meta still compete over devices and the next generation of computing. However, both companies see an opportunity to bring powerful AI capabilities to personal computers. The collaboration suggests the companies' disagreements no longer prevent cooperation when their interests align, rather than showing that those differences are resolved. Meta benefits from making Meta's AI models widely available. Apple can demonstrate the capabilities of Apple's most powerful computers.

Local operation means Meta does not receive users' prompts or other information, avoiding privacy concerns that have long divided the companies. Wang said Meta has no control over or visibility into how developers use the model. However, openly available powerful AI models raise concerns that bad actors could remove safeguards and use the technology for cyberattacks or biological threats.

Apple executive chairman Tim Cook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have repeatedly clashed over privacy and competing business models. In 2018, amid Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, Cook said Cook would not be in Zuckerberg's situation when asked how Cook would respond. Zuckerberg called Cook's comments "extremely glib." Apple introduced new privacy protections in 2021 that struck at Facebook's advertising business and intensified the rivalry. The Wall Street Journal reported that Zuckerberg told employees Facebook needed to "inflict pain" on Apple over the dispute.

The AI race is changing longstanding technology-industry rivalries and bringing together political adversaries. Anthropic is leasing up to $15 billion per year of computing capacity from Elon Musk's SpaceX while competing with Musk's AI company. Microsoft, OpenAI's longtime partner, is investing billions in rival Anthropic. Microsoft is incorporating Anthropic's Claude models into Microsoft's products. Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders and MAGA strategist Steve Bannon have both called for tougher AI safeguards and challenged Big Tech's power.

Apple is currently helping demonstrate that Meta's AI models can run locally on Apple's computers. Whether the collaboration begins a broader relationship remains an open question. Apple incorporating Meta's models into Apple Intelligence would be a more significant step, giving Meta a role in powering Apple's own AI features. Wang acknowledged that Apple and Meta will continue competing in some areas. However, Wang said that competition does not have to prevent the companies from working together.