Microsoft Reveals Phi-2: The Next Generation Open-Source Model

Microsoft Unveils Phi-2: An Open-Source Model

Microsoft has just revealed a new open-source model called Phi-2, which is an upgraded version of Phi-1.5. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief, introduced Phi-2 at the Ignite event, highlighting its impressive capabilities with 2.7 billion parameters while maintaining a compact size. The key improvement is a 50% boost in mathematical reasoning.

Phi-2 Features

• Parameters: 2.7 billion
• Mathematical Reasoning Improvement: 50%

Phi-2 will be available through Microsoft's catalog and as a model-as-a-service, making it easily accessible for users. Microsoft is also introducing 'Models as a Service' at Ignite, providing access to open-source models through hosted APIs. Alongside Phi-2, Llama2, Mistral, and Jais will be included in the Model Catalog.

Models as a Service

• Access open-source models through hosted APIs
• Phi-2, Llama2, Mistral, and Jais available in Model Catalog

Nadella mentioned that users can fine-tune Llama 2 with their data to improve the model's understanding and predictions. Microsoft is committed to supporting models in all languages and countries. They're even collaborating with G42 to bring Jais, the first Arabic model, to Azure AI Studio.

Microsoft's Commitment

• Fine-tune Llama 2 with your data
• Collaboration with G42 for the first Arabic model, Jais

Speaking of Azure AI Studio, it's a powerful tool that lets you navigate the entire lifecycle of building, customizing, training, evaluating, and deploying next-gen models. With safety as a top priority, Azure AI Studio comes with built-in tools to identify and filter harmful content, whether it's generated by users or AI, in your applications and services.

Azure AI Studio Features

• Comprehensive toolchain
• Built-in safety tools

In September, Microsoft introduced Phi-1.5, which outperformed Llama 2's 7-billion parameters model on various benchmarks. It's great to see Microsoft supporting open-source AI platforms for its users.