Rome, November 26, 2024 –

The University of Rome “La Sapienza” (also known as Sapienza University of Rome, Sapienza) is an Italian public university founded in 1303, among the oldest in the world and the oldest in the city of Rome.

A groundbreaking moment for Italian artificial intelligence has arrived with the unveiling of Minerva 7B, an advanced language model developed by Sapienza University of Rome, in collaboration with FAIR (Future Artificial Intelligence Research) and CINECA. This achievement highlights a fusion of technological prowess, academic innovation, and strategic cooperation, solidifying Italy’s position on the global stage of Large Language Models (LLMs).

A Landmark Model for the Italian Language

Created by the Sapienza NLP research group, led by Professor Roberto Navigli, Minerva 7B stands as Italy’s first pre-trained linguistic model exclusively centered on Italian language and culture. With 7 billion parameters and training on 1.5 trillion words, the model offers unparalleled language comprehension and generation capabilities in the country.

Minerva 7B introduces a sophisticated instruction tuning technique, enabling it to produce highly accurate, coherent, and secure responses. This innovation addresses common chatbot issues, such as hallucinations and problematic content generation.

“The scarcity of high-quality Italian-language data has been a persistent challenge. Minerva boldly tackles this, paving the way for novel applications across academic, institutional, and commercial domains,” stated Professor Navigli during the launch event.

Sapienza’s Interdisciplinary Excellence

University Rector Antonella Polimeni emphasized Minerva as a testament to Sapienza’s interdisciplinary vision and collective commitment. “Our institution has a storied tradition of excellence in scientific and technological research. With Minerva, we’ve demonstrated our ability to drive global innovation,” she remarked.

Born under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the project was executed in just five months by a dedicated team of 15 researchers and doctoral candidates, with crucial support from strategic partners like NVIDIA and Babelscape, a Sapienza spin-off.

Industry-Academia Collaboration: A Winning Formula

An integral part of Minerva’s success lies in its collaboration with CINECA’s supercomputer Leonardo, which provided the immense computational power required for model training. CINECA Director Alessandra Poggiani highlighted the importance of such partnerships: “Minerva embodies our mission to support research by developing models that can significantly benefit society, particularly within public administration.”

Similarly, FAIR President Giuseppe De Pietro celebrated Minerva’s symbolic and practical value. “This project showcases Italy’s ability not just to adopt foreign technologies but to spearhead innovation in AI,” he said, envisioning Minerva as a benchmark for public administration and beyond.

Open Source and Transparent Development

Minerva 7B also sets itself apart through its open-source accessibility, available to universities, institutions, and businesses alike. Its transparent training process and prioritization of safety exemplify responsible development in a field often dominated by private interests.

Ethics and inclusivity are at the heart of Minerva’s design. It actively mitigates biases and avoids generating discriminatory content, championing responsible technology use in alignment with contemporary AI ethics.

Looking Ahead: A Launchpad for Future Endeavors

Minerva 7B is not just a culmination but a stepping stone toward future ambitions. Plans are underway to establish a permanent research lab, aiming to continuously refine the model and expand its capabilities. One such milestone includes developing a multimodal model capable of processing text, images, and other data formats.

The project also seeks to integrate Minerva into the public and editorial sectors, targeting critical areas like education, healthcare, and governance.

Empowering Italy’s Youth and Talent Pool

A vital aspect of Minerva is fostering opportunities for young researchers within Italy. “Let’s celebrate the intelligence of our youth,” remarked De Pietro, underscoring the importance of retaining intellectual capital and providing domestic opportunities.

With its deep focus on Italian language and culture, Minerva 7B signals Italy’s readiness to lead in the global AI revolution. This ambitious venture now awaits its next chapters of innovation and impact.

The move taps into a concept that’s been gaining traction globally, known as “sovereign AI.”

For further information and to explore Minerva 7B, visit Minerva LLM.