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Meta keeps AI open with hybrid model release plan
Meta is preparing to release new AI models developed under Alexandr Wang and plans to later offer some versions under an open-source license, while keeping some parts private and ensuring they don’t add new levels of safety risk.
The move would preserve Meta’s position as a major US company that lets developers modify frontier AI models, though the company is shifting to a hybrid approach in which some of its largest models stay closed.
The new family is meant to narrow the gap with rivals after Llama 4 lagged, as OpenAI and Anthropic hint that their next models are expected to drop soon, and Alibaba has kept its latest top Qwen models proprietary.
🔗 Source: Axios
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Implications, context, and why it matters.
Meta’s new AI chief and a delayed model shed light on its strategic shift
- Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, now steers AI decisions at Meta and runs a new team working on artificial general intelligence 1.
- Meta backed that change after buying a 49% non-voting stake in Scale AI for more than $14 billion in June 2025 1.
- Pressure to close the gap rose after Meta’s foundational AI model, code-named “Avocado,” slipped from its planned March 2026 launch 1.
- Reports said Avocado lagged Google and others on coding, reasoning, and writing. That gap adds context for a hybrid plan that blends open-source and closed models 1.
Meta’s new AI features link to subscription tests and a hybrid open/closed plan
- Meta expects new AI tools to help sell planned paid subscription tiers. Meta said it would test them on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp 2.
- The AI video generator “Vibes” will move to freemium pricing, with a subscription option that unlocks more monthly video creation slots 3.
- Meta aims to expand Manus, an AI agent it bought for a reported $2 billion, by folding it into Meta products while still selling standalone business subscriptions 3.
- If subscriptions take off, the approach could give other ad-funded social networks a path to follow, as Snapchat+ has passed 16 million subscribers 2.
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