Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced it will not release its upcoming multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model in the European Union due to what it calls an "unpredictable" regulatory environment.

The US tech giant plans to launch the advanced AI model, capable of processing text, images, audio, and video, in the coming months. However, European customers and companies will be unable to access or utilise the technology.

"We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," a Meta spokesperson told Axios.

The decision highlights growing tensions between American tech firms and EU regulators. Last month, Apple made a similar move, withholding its Apple Intelligence features from Europe over regulatory concerns.

Meta's primary issue stems from difficulties in training AI models using European user data while complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In June, the company was ordered to pause AI training on EU data after announcing plans to use public posts from Facebook and Instagram users.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, Meta's lead privacy regulator in Europe, said discussions with the company over model training were ongoing.

Despite nearly identical data protection laws, Meta plans to launch the new model for UK users, citing less regulatory uncertainty in Britain.

The withholding of the multimodal AI model could have far-reaching implications for European businesses and consumers. Companies outside the EU may be prevented from offering products and services in Europe that utilise the new technology.

Meta argues that training on European data is crucial for ensuring its products accurately reflect regional terminology and culture. The company claims competitors such as Google and OpenAI are already training on European data.

While the multimodal model will be withheld, Meta still plans to release a larger, text-only version of its Llama 3 model in the EU.

The move underscores the ongoing struggle between innovation and regulation in the rapidly evolving field of AI, with European users potentially missing out on cutting-edge technologies as a result.

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