In a 6,500-word essay published on Meta’s website, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg defends his new strategy of combining open artificial intelligence models with investment in the cities that host data centres.

Zuckerberg’s aim is to promote a positive vision of AI and its potential benefits, at a time when opposition is growing in the US, particularly to the construction of data centres.

The essay, titled “Personal Superintelligence“, accompanies Meta’s launch today of a new range of open-source AI models — models whose underlying code is accessible to everyone — called Muse Glimmer, designed to run on laptops.

The group also plans to open-source its most powerful model, Muse Spark 1.2, having long championed closed models.

Zuckerberg insists there is no doubt that “people will have access to superintelligence within the next few years, surpassing human capabilities,” and argues the real challenge is ensuring that access is as widely shared as possible.

The billionaire nonetheless rejects the notion of an artificial intelligence that “would destroy most jobs and humanity’s very purpose.”

“The idea that AI is so dangerous that the only safe path forward is extreme concentration of power seems inherently flawed,” he added.

While acknowledging the security risks involved, he argues that companies “developing advanced AI should contribute significant technical resources to help government protect critical infrastructure.

Rival chiefs at Anthropic and OpenAI have already backed the idea of an internationally led regulatory framework, spearheaded by the US. Zuckerberg, for his part, proposes instead giving the American government “early access to the most capable models, along with an army of engineers, to tackle security issues.”

He also wants stronger protection of personal data in AI use – data “that neither Meta nor any other service provider can access”- and calls for “closer cooperation” between business and government “on law enforcement and security.”

More broadly, the Meta chief defended his company’s strategy of giving the widest possible access to its AI models through open-source software, arguing that “our goal, since Meta’s founding, has always been to put power in the hands of users.”

Zuckerberg also announced the creation of a fund for the cities that host the group’s data centres, intended to “enable sustainable growth across the country.” According to the Wall Street Journal, the fund is expected to reach one billion dollars.