It’s a wrap: News this week (Aug 5–Aug 11)

There have been multiple developments on the tech front this week. From Zoom’s user data concern to Check Point’s new acquisition, this is the list of the most important developments this week for a quick catch-up:

IBM’s AI platform to host LLM from Meta

IBM and Meta have teamed up to bring the latter’s AI large language model to IBM’s enterprise AI platform, Watsonx. Meta’s Llama 2-chat model, which has 70 billion parameters, will now be hosted on the watsonx.ai studio. 

Notably, in July, Meta announced that Llama 2 will be distributed by Microsoft through Azure cloud service and will run on the Windows operating system. The tie-up is targeted at enterprises, offering them the capability to build apps using generative AI tools. In addition, Meta is also working with Qualcomm to integrate Llama 2 AI implementations into smartphones and PCs starting next year.  

Check Point’s new acquisition

Cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point Software Technologies has announced the acquisition of Israel-based security company Perimeter 81. The deal is worth approximately $490 million, on a cash free and debt free basis.

Check Point will integrate Perimeter 81’s capabilities into its security management portal Infinity to deliver a unified security solution across the network, cloud, and remote users.

Zoom’s terms of service spark privacy concern

Video conferencing platform Zoom has been entangled in a data privacy issue due to its updated terms of service. It gives Zoom the permission to use service-generated data on its platform to train its artificial intelligence models, without giving users the option to opt out.

Amid criticism, Zoom issues a statement saying customers own and control their video, audio, and chat content, even as the platform uses it to provide value-added service. On the service-generated data, the blog noted that “we consider this to be our data” which can be used to better user experience.

Launch of open enterprise Linux association (OpenELA)

Linux-based enterprise product providers SUSE, Oracle, and CIQ have joined hands to form OpenLEA. This collaboration seeks to develop distributions that are compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by offering open and free enterprise Linux source code.

This is in response to the change of rules by IBM-owned Red Hat in terms of RHEL source code availability, which makes it difficult for other distributors to create RHEL-compatible operating systems.