A senior administration official said that government agencies will be able to use Meta’s artificial intelligence system Llama, according to Reuters. The General Services Administration (GSA), the government’s purchasing arm, will add Llama to its list of approved AI tools for federal agencies, said Josh Gruenbaum, the GSA’s procurement lead in an interview.
Agencies will be able to use Llama — a free large language model capable of processing data, including text, images, video and audio — with GSA’s assurance that it meets the government’s security and legal standards.
“It’s not about currying favor,” Gruenbaum said when asked whether tech executives are giving the government discounts to get President Donald Trump’s approval. “It’s about that recognition of how do we all lock in arms and make this country the best country it could possibly be.” He also said that federal agencies will be able to deploy the tool to speed up contract review or more quickly solve information technology hiccups, among other tasks.
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“America is leading on AI and we want to make sure all Americans see the benefit of AI innovation through better, more efficient public services. With Llama, America’s government agencies can better serve people,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Meta had previously collaborated with U.S. government agencies and contractors working on national security applications. Meta stated in a press release that this arrangement would help in bolstering the objectives stated in the U.S. “AI Action Plan,” and support government priorities like OMB Memoranda M-25-21 (Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust) and M-25-22 (Driving Efficient Acquisition of Artificial Intelligence in Government).
Meta also states that the collaboration will “strengthen the federal government’s ability to test, adapt, and deploy AI while maintaining full control over sensitive data.”
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“We’re excited to see Llama give public service agencies the flexibility to build mission-specific solutions, reduce dependency on closed providers, and foster transparency and reproducibility in AI research,” the company said in a press release.
The GSA had also signed off on tools from Meta’s competitors in recent months including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic and Open AI. The companies agreed to sell their paid products at steep discounts and meet the government’s security requirements, GSA has said.
Previously, Anthropic claimed to offer its products to the government for as little as $1. The Trump administration has embraced leading AI companies as part of its “AI Action Plan,” which aims to position the U.S. at the lead in the “AI race.”