Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, who previously embraced an open-source strategy and even published a lengthy article emphasizing that "open-source AI is the way forward," seems to have recently made a significant shift in his AI strategy. According to...CNBCAndBloomberg NewsThe report indicates that Meta is developing a new AI model codenamed "Avocado," which is highly likely to be moving towards a proprietary development path.
Codenamed Avocado, it is led by the newly appointed AI chief, Wang Tao.
The report indicates that the model, codenamed "Avocado," is expected to be released in 2026. The project is currently being handled by a small team called "TBD" within Meta, which is part of the "AI Superintelligence Labs."
The team is led by the new AI chief.Wang Tao (Alexandr Wang) is in charge, and reports indicate that Wang himself prefers a closed model development path, which is quite different from the open ecosystem that Meta has built over the past few years through the Llama series of models.
Llama 4 faces delays; is the open-source strategy encountering bottlenecks?
This strategic shift did not come out of nowhere. Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg stated that while Meta would continue to lead in the open-source field, he also emphasized, citing security considerations for Superintelligence, that "it will not open-source everything it does."
Furthermore, the existing Llama 4 development appears to have encountered turbulence. The Llama 4 prototype, codenamed "Behemoth," has been delayed for months, and there are even reports of developers reacting coldly to the current release. (The New York Times)Previous reportsIt was further pointed out that Wang Tao and other senior executives even discussed whether to completely abandon Llama 4, which may explain why Meta was eager to start from scratch and develop "Avocado".
To compete with Google and OpenAI, it is willing to invest $6000 billion.
In order to keep up with strong competitors such as Google and OpenAI in the AI race, Meta is undergoing a major internal restructuring.
• Major personnel upheaval:Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist who has long supported the open-source philosophy and held reservations about large language models (LLMs), recently...Announcement of resignationThe Foundation for Artificial Intelligence (FAIR) unit also laid off hundreds of employees.
• Sky-high investment:Meta expects to invest in the next few years.Up to $6000 billion in fundingTo support its AI development.
From Yann LeCun's departure to the emergence of "Avocado," it appears that Mark Zuckerberg, in his pursuit of "superintelligence," may be prepared to break his promise from last year and lock the most advanced AI technology within his own walls.
