New LLM for Code Generation

ServiceNow and Hugging Face, two leading companies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), have released StarCoder, one of the world’s most responsibly developed and strongest-performing open-access large language models (LLMs) for code generation. This model has been designed to bring transparency and accessibility to generative AI, enabling responsible innovation at scale. With StarCoder, developers from organizations of all sizes can harness the power of AI and maximize the business impact of automation with proper governance, safety, and compliance protocols.

The 15 billion parameter StarCoder model is a significant milestone in the BigCode Project, an ambitious initiative to develop state-of-the-art AI systems for code in an open and responsible manner with the support of the open-scientific AI research community. Trained with a trillion tokens of permissively licensed source code covering over 80 programming languages from BigCode’s The Stack v1.2 dataset, StarCoder can be deployed to bring pair-programming like generative AI to applications with capabilities like text-to-code and text-to-workflow.

StarCoder gives professional software engineers the power to tackle the most complex programming challenges and empowers citizen developers to build new software regardless of technical ability—accelerating AI innovation at scale. The model will be released with open-access on the Hugging Face platform Code Open RAIL-M license to permit royalty-free distribution. Unlike traditional open-source software released without use case restrictions, BigCode releases the model with a responsible AI model license that includes use case restrictions that apply to modifications of the model and applications using the model.

This responsible AI model license ensures that the model is not used to generate or distribute malicious code to harm electronic systems. The model's supporting code has been open-sourced on the BigCode project’s GitHub. The joint efforts led by Hugging Face and ServiceNow enable the release of powerful base models that empower the community to build a wide range of applications more efficiently than a single company could come up with.

In the last three years, ServiceNow has expanded its portfolio with several notable AI acquisitions, including Attivio, Element AI, and Hitch Works, bringing practical, purpose-built AI capabilities to the Now Platform. Most recently, ServiceNow introduced new AI-based tools within the Now Platform Utah release to help organizations maximize efficiency, accelerate ROI, and create more simplified, connected experiences.

Overall, StarCoder represents a significant step forward in the responsible development of AI models for code generation. It provides organizations of all sizes with the ability to harness the power of AI and automation, while ensuring proper governance, safety, and compliance protocols are in place. The model's release with a responsible AI model license further highlights the importance of responsible AI development and paves the way for future AI innovations.