Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made waves earlier this year when he created Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a new unit formed by poaching top talent from the likes of OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The lab was reportedly set up after Zuckerberg was dissatisfied with the output from existing Llama models that power Meta AI, and to push towards superintelligence, a hypothetical stage where AI reaches human-level abilities across most tasks.
While Meta has not shared any official updates on the progress of its AI models, Zuckerberg appeared impressed with the work underway. In July, he predicted that future Llama models would be “the most advanced in the industry” and would “bring the benefits of AI to everyone”.
When are new Meta AI models arriving?
While Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and others battle for supremacy in an increasingly competitive AI landscape, there has been no sign of new Llama models so far. However, according to a new report by CNBC, Meta is pursuing a new AI model codenamed Avocado.
The report states that many within the company were expecting the new model to arrive before the end of the year, but the timeline has now reportedly slipped to the first quarter of 2026.
Reportedly, the model is grappling with various training- and performance-testing challenges, which are intended to ensure that it is well received when it eventually debuts.
“Our model training efforts are going according to plan and have had no meaningful timing changes,” a Meta spokesperson told the publication.
Meta’s new AI model could be closed-source
While Zuckerberg has long been a vocal advocate of open-source AI, the 41-year-old tech executive has gradually shifted his stance over the past few months.
“We’ll need to be rigorous about mitigating these risks and careful about what we choose to open source,” he said in July.
Meta may now be considering a significant U-turn on open sourcing. The CNBC report claims that the Avocado model could be proprietary, similar to Gemini and ChatGPT, meaning developers would not be able to freely download its weights or inspect associated software components.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg remains optimistic about Meta’s upcoming AI work. During the company’s earnings call earlier this year, he said, “I think that we’ve already built the lab with the highest talent density in the industry… We’re heads down developing our next generation of models and products, and I’m looking forward to sharing more on that front over the coming months.”
