International Business Machines (NYSE:) announced Tuesday that it will launch a family of AI models as open source software and help Saudi Arabia train an AI system in Arabic.
Unlike rivals like Microsoft (NASDAQ:), IBM takes an open-access approach similar to Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:), making its “Granite” AI models available for companies to customize.
The Granite tools are intended to help developers complete code faster. To monetize these models, IBM offers a paid tool called Watsonx, which after customization ensures smooth operation in data centers.
The tech giant’s strategy is to profit when customers actually use AI models, whether they come from IBM or other companies and whether they run in IBM data centers or not.
“We believe we are in the early days of generative AI models,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Reuters.
“Competition is ultimately good for buyers. We also want to be safe and responsible.”
Additionally, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority will use Watsonx to train its Arabic language model “ALLaM,” expanding IBM’s language capabilities to include multiple Arabic dialects.
