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Together AI has made a splash in the AI world by offering developers free access to Meta’s powerful new Llama 3.2 Vision model via Hugging Face.
The model, known as Llama-3.2-11B-Vision-Instruct, allows users to upload images and interact with AI that can analyze and describe visual content.
For developers, this is a chance to experiment with cutting-edge multimodal AI without incurring the significant costs usually associated with models of this scale. All you need is an API key from Together AI, and you can get started today.
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This launch underscores Meta’s ambitious vision for the future of artificial intelligence, which increasingly relies on models that can process both text and images—a capability known as multimodal AI.
With Llama 3.2, Meta is expanding the boundaries of what AI can do, while Together AI is playing a crucial role by making these advanced capabilities accessible to a broader developer community through a free, easy-to-use demo.
Together AI’s interface for accessing Meta’s Llama 3.2 Vision model, showcasing the simplicity of using advanced AI technology with just an API key and adjustable parameters. (Credit: Hugging Face)
Meta’s Llama models have been at the forefront of open-source AI development since the first version was unveiled in early 2023, challenging proprietary leaders like OpenAI’s GPT models.
Llama 3.2, launched at Meta’s Connect 2024 event this week, takes this even further by integrating vision capabilities, allowing the model to process and understand images in addition to text.
This opens the door to a broader range of applications, from sophisticated image-based search engines to AI-powered UI design assistants.
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The launch of the free Llama 3.2 Vision demo on Hugging Face makes these advanced capabilities more accessible than ever.
Developers, researchers, and startups can now test the model’s multimodal capabilities by simply uploading an image and interacting with the AI in real time.
From code to reality: A step-by-step guide to harnessing Llama 3.2
Trying the model is as simple as obtaining a free API key from Together AI.
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Developers can sign up for an account on Together AI’s platform, which includes $5 in free credits to get started. Once the key is set up, users can input it into the Hugging Face interface and begin uploading images to chat with the model.
The setup process takes mere minutes, and the demo provides an immediate look at how far AI has come in generating human-like responses to visual inputs.
For example, users can upload a screenshot of a website or a photo of a product, and the model will generate detailed descriptions or answer questions about the image’s content.
For enterprises, this opens the door to faster prototyping and development of multimodal applications. Retailers could use Llama 3.2 to power visual search features, while media companies might leverage the model to automate image captioning for articles and archives.
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Llama 3.2 is part of Meta’s broader push into edge AI, where smaller, more efficient models can run on mobile and edge devices without relying on cloud infrastructure.
While the 11B Vision model is now available for free testing, Meta has also introduced lightweight versions with as few as 1 billion parameters, designed specifically for on-device use.
These models, which can run on mobile processors from Qualcomm and MediaTek, promise to bring AI-powered capabilities to a much wider range of devices.
In an era where data privacy is paramount, edge AI has the potential to offer more secure solutions by processing data locally on devices rather than in the cloud.
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This can be crucial for industries like healthcare and finance, where sensitive data must remain protected. Meta’s focus on making these models modifiable and open-source also means that businesses can fine-tune them for specific tasks without sacrificing performance.
Meta’s commitment to openness with the Llama models has been a bold counterpoint to the trend of closed, proprietary AI systems.
With Llama 3.2, Meta is doubling down on the belief that open models can drive innovation faster by enabling a much larger community of developers to experiment and contribute.
In a statement at the Connect 2024 event, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that Llama 3.2 represents a “10x growth” in the model’s capabilities since its previous version, and it’s poised to lead the industry in both performance and accessibility.
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Together AI’s role in this ecosystem is equally noteworthy. By offering free access to the Llama 3.2 Vision model, the company is positioning itself as a critical partner for developers and enterprises looking to integrate AI into their products.
Together AI CEO Vipul Ved Prakash emphasized that their infrastructure is designed to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to deploy these models in production environments, whether in the cloud or on-prem.
The future of AI: Open access and its implications
While Llama 3.2 is available for free on Hugging Face, Meta and Together AI are clearly eyeing enterprise adoption.
The free tier is just the beginning—developers who want to scale their applications will likely need to move to paid plans as their usage increases. For now, however, the free demo offers a low-risk way to explore the cutting edge of AI, and for many, that’s a game-changer.
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As the AI landscape continues to evolve, the line between open-source and proprietary models is becoming increasingly blurred.
For businesses, the key takeaway is that open models like Llama 3.2 are no longer just research projects—they’re ready for real-world use. And with partners like Together AI making access easier than ever, the barrier to entry has never been lower.
Want to try it yourself? Head over to Together AI’s Hugging Face demo to upload your first image and see what Llama 3.2 can do.
VB Daily
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For the third year in a row, Amazon is ringing in the fall with a second Prime Day event. This year’s two-day shopping event — dubbed Prime Big Deal Days — will kick off on Tuesday, October 8th, and run through Wednesday, October 9th, giving Amazon Prime subscribers a chance to chip away at their holiday wishlist before Black Friday and Cyber Monday land later this year.
If the early deals Amazon already has on offer are any indication, we can expect to see steep discounts across Amazon’s own devices, including Fire tablets, Echo speakers, Eero routers, Kindles, and more. We also anticipate Amazon slashing prices on a variety of other electronics, from noise-canceling headphones and laptops to video doorbells and some of our favorite robot vacuums.
As usual, we’ll be scouring Amazon’s landing pages both during and in the run-up to the event, making it easy for you to keep tabs on the best deals coming out of Prime Day 2.0. We’ll also provide a slew of helpful tips ahead of the event, including ways to save at competing retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Target.
So bookmark this page, sign up for the new Verge Deals newsletter, and set aside a little spending cash. You’re going to need it.
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Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
Your Strands expert
Your Strands expert
Marc McLaren
NYT Strands today (game #208) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Medieval marvel
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NYT Strands today (game #208) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
BUTTER
TORE
WEAR
ATOM
LAUD
DARE
NYT Strands today (game #208) – hint #3 – spangram
What is a hint for today’s spangram?
• Not necessarily made of sand
NYT Strands today (game #208) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First: left, 4th row
Last: right, 3rd row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
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NYT Strands today (game #208) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #208, are…
MOAT
WALL
DRAWBRIDGE
COURTYARD
TOWER
KEEP
TURRET
SPANGRAM: CASTLE
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
This was a spectacularly easy Strands puzzle. If the words ‘Medieval marvel‘ didn’t immediately conjure up a CASTLE to you, well, then, you didn’t spend as much time during your childhood playing with Lego, reading The Lord of The Rings or watching Robin Hood as I did.
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I got the spangram right away, and that made the task of finding the other answers all the easier. None were remotely hard to think of or difficult to uncover, and I completed the whole thing in about three minutes.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Thursday 26 September, game #207)
SWING
CRIB
HIGHCHAIR
STROLLER
BLANKET
PLAYPEN
SPANGRAM: BABYGEAR
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
Companies are being warned about the increasing use of AI to carry out so-called CEO Fraud.
More victims are coming forward with their stories of being targeted using generative AI techniques and one case in Hong Kong reportedly saw an AI clone used during a video meeting to trick staff into losing $25m.
But while some fear the rise of AI clones, companies including Zoom say we should be excited about a future where your clone can go to a meeting on your behalf.
Cyber correspondent Joe Tidy has had an AI clone of himself built by engineers at Fraia AI. Watch to see if he can fool his colleagues with it.
The Sycamore Gap tree is thought to be one of the most photographed trees in the world
Ruth lost her only child Fergus to cancer when he was just 12.
“Your worst fear after your child dies is that he’ll be forgotten,” she explains.
They had long been searching for a tree with special meaning to plant in Fergus’ memory and to draw attention to all the children affected by childhood cancer.
The Sycamore Gap tree was cut down a year ago, sparking national outrage. Now, Fergus’ community in Backwell, near Bristol, will be one of the first to be gifted a sapling grown from it.
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Stories of these first saplings to be promised are being shared to inspire others to apply for a ‘Tree of Hope’ from the National Trust. They have now grown to about 5ft tall, the BBC discovered on a visit to the top-secret greenhouse where they are kept.
Yard family photo
Fergus “loved the outdoors” and was planning to walk Hadrian’s wall with his dad
On a bank, overlooking an open green space, Fergus’ parents share the spot where his tree will go – a prominent place in the landscape.
Their son came to this recreational ground nearly every day – a boy, on the cusp of becoming a teenager, who had a love of the outdoors.
It was his walk to school. He played cricket and other games here with his dad Ian, who described it as place filled with “fun”.
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Father and son were planning to walk Hadrian’s Wall, along which the Sycamore Gap tree was nestled.
They postponed because of the pandemic with the hope of visiting once life went back to ‘normal’.
But Fergus was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in January 2021 and was just 12 years old when he died in May 2022.
Andy Alcroft/BBC
Fergus’ parents Ruth and Ian have chosen a prominent spot in Fergus’ local park for the special sapling to be planted
“There’s something about the story of the new life being created from the Sycamore Gap. It made me think of all the children affected by childhood cancer. And how they deserve so much better. They deserve a second chance of life.”
A Sycamore Gap sapling seemed a fitting tribute as it was the trip planned, but never taken.
Since Fergus died, nature has been a constant source of strength to the family, Ruth tells me: “Its power to regenerate. And to console.”
She stresses that cancer in children is “horrendous, brutal and life-changing” and that bone cancer in children is something “no one really talks about”.
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“We need to do more. We need to know more.” So her hope for the tree is to draw attention to the challenges these children face.
Ross James/BBC
Saplings grown from seeds are now about 5ft tall
The original tree was 49ft (15m) when it was chopped down, and so 49 of its saplings will be released to communities across the UK who successfully apply.
The Sycamore Gap stood in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, attracting visitors, proposals and was even featured in the Hollywood blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
But on the morning of 28 September 2023, news spread internationally that the tree had been chopped down overnight.
Currently its ‘baby trees’ are being nurtured and protected in a secret greenhouse, a site of biosecurity because of the rare specimens grown there – including a copy of Newton’s Apple Tree.
The first of the seedlings to pop up has been gifted to King Charles.
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It was the wrong time of year to grow the material that was salvaged from the iconic tree and things have been “touch and go”, Darryl Beck, who has been tending to the seedlings explains.
Reuters
The tree stood in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland
But now the small team here are caring for about 100 saplings, some taller than 1.5m, and more seedlings are coming on.
There are also “nine or so grafts and budded plants” Chris Trimmer who runs the site explains. They are genetic copies of the original tree.
The trees wont be ready for planting until next year.
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“We’re only a very small part of the story, but these trees will be around for the next 200 to 500 years. So, they’ll be around a long time and give a lot of hope to people,” says Chris.
The National Trust wants these saplings to be symbols of hope and healing, with each tree going to a very special place.
Another is promised to Tina’s Haven at Easington on the County Durham Coast.
Some 34 hectares (84 acres) of coastal fields are set to become a landscape of rolling meadows, hedgerows, ponds and woodlands overlooking the North Sea.
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“My daughter Tina was absolutely a unique human being,” Sue Robson explains. “Through her life, although she had issues with childhood trauma and addiction and mental health, she was bold, she was strong, she was beautiful.”
Sue Robson
Sue Robson (left) with her daughter Tina (right).
Tina died in 2020, age 35, following these struggles. After her death, Sue wanted to create a wild sanctuary – a place of recovery for others dealing with the problems Tina faced.
The National Trust says it’s spent the last 40 years cleaning up the beaches that neighbour the former coalfield sites near where Tina’s Haven will be established.
The hope is not only to restore nature here, but to help women recover from addiction and trauma through rewilding projects.
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Sue describes the pilgrimages she made to the Sycamore Gap, just 58 miles away, and how seeing it chopped down felt like an act of “violence against mother nature itself”.
“When Tina died, my hope died with her,” Sue says. “And equally, when that beautiful tree was cut down. It was a violent, devastating act.”
But she sees a “parallel” when it comes to themes of “hope, of nature, of recovery and connection.”
“So, having the tree, such a significant symbol of hope here, is absolutely massive.”
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For Sue, the story of nature bouncing back, symbolises that even after being subject to the worst adversity, there can be recovery, healing and new beginnings.
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