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delayed release of Llama Behemoth
webCredibility Rating
3/5
Good(3)Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.
Rating inherited from publication venue: CNBC
Relevant to AI safety discussions around open-source vs. proprietary model release strategies, as Meta's potential move toward closed frontier models may affect AI access, safety oversight, and competitive dynamics in the industry.
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Importance: 38/100news articlenews
Summary
CNBC reports that Meta is pursuing a new proprietary frontier AI model codenamed 'Avocado,' marking a significant strategic shift away from its open-source Llama models. The company spent $14.3 billion acquiring Scale AI's founder and top researchers to compete with OpenAI and Google, but the rapid pivot has created internal culture clashes and confusion. The delayed release of Llama Behemoth and the possible move away from open-source signals a fundamental rethinking of Meta's AI positioning.
Key Points
- •Meta is developing a new frontier AI model codenamed 'Avocado' that may be proprietary rather than open-source, reversing its Llama strategy.
- •Meta spent $14.3 billion on a hiring spree including Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang and top researchers to compete with OpenAI and Google.
- •The strategic overhaul has created significant internal culture clashes as the company pivots from open-source to a more competitive closed approach.
- •Analysts note Meta 'entered the year as an AI winner' but now faces questions around investment levels and ROI.
- •Zuckerberg's declining emphasis on Llama branding signals the depth of the strategic shift underway.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| AI Safety Multi-Actor Strategic Landscape | Analysis | 79.0 |
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Key Points Meta is pursuing a new frontier AI model, codenamed Avocado, that could be proprietary instead of open source, CNBC has learned.
The company is trying to keep pace with artificial intelligence rivals OpenAI and Google after spending $14.3 billion to bring in the founder of Scale AI and a handful of top researchers and engineers.
"In many ways, Meta has been the opposite of Alphabet, where it entered the year as an AI winner and now faces more questions around investment levels and ROI," analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets wrote in a note to clients late last month.
In this article
META
Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Sept. 25, 2024. Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was so optimistic last year about his company's Llama family of artificial intelligence models that he predicted they would become the "most advanced in the industry" and "bring the benefits of AI to everyone."
But after including a whole section on Llama in his opening remarks during Meta's earnings call in January of this year, he mentioned the brand name only once on the latest call in October. The company's obsession with its open-source large language model has given way to a very different approach to AI, one focused around a multibillion-dollar hiring spree to bring in top industry talent that could help Meta take on the likes of OpenAI , Google and Anthropic .
As 2025 comes to a close, Meta's strategy remains scattershot, according to insiders and industry experts, feeding the perception that the company has fallen further behind its top AI rivals , whose models are rapidly gaining adoption in the consumer and enterprise markets.
Meta is pursuing a new Llama successor and frontier AI model, codenamed Avocado, CNBC has learned. People with knowledge of the matter said many within the company were expecting the model to be released before the end of this year. The plan is for that to happen in the first quarter of 2026, a person familiar with the company's plans told CNBC. The model is wrestling with various training-related performance testing intended to ensure the system is well received when it eventually debuts, said the people, who asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to speak on the matter.
"Our model training efforts are going according to plan and have had no meaningful timing changes," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
With its stock underperforming the broader tech sector this year and badly trailing Google parent Alphabet, Wall Street is looking for a sense of direction and a path to a return on investment after Meta spent $14.3 b
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