Meta debuts Muse Spark, first AI model under Alexandr Wang

Meta on Wednesday debuted Muse Spark, a homegrown AI model it says significantly narrows the performance gap with models from OpenAI, Anthropic and others.

Why it matters: The model — code-named Avocado and built over the past nine months by a team led by Alexandr Wang — is a major upgrade over its Llama 4 models, Meta tells Axios.

Driving the news: Muse Spark will power queries in the Meta AI app and Meta.ai website immediately, with plans to expand across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

• The model accepts voice, text and image inputs, but produces text-only output.
• As Axios first reported, Meta plans to release a version of Muse Spark under an open-source license.

Zoom in: The model uses a fast mode for casual queries and several reasoning modes.

• A "shopping mode" highlights how Meta hopes to differentiate itself. It combines large language models with data on user interests and behavior.
• Over time, the model will also power "features that cite recommendations and content people share across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads," Meta said in a blog post.

Zoom out: A Meta executive told Axios that Muse Spark doesn't mark a new state of the art, but is competitive with the latest models from leading labs at certain tasks, including multimodal understanding and processing health information.

• In other areas, including coding, the company acknowledges that there is a gap between Muse Spark and the models already available.

• All flavors of the model are free to use, though Meta may impose rate limits.

Yes, but: Consumers should be aware that Meta's privacy policy sets few limits on how the company can use any data shared with its AI system.

The big picture: Meta sees the release of Muse Spark as just one step toward its broader vision of personal superintelligence.

• However, Meta's rivals are also leaping forward. Anthropic this week detailed Mythos, a model it says is so powerful that its initial release is being limited to a handful of tech companies to focus on cybersecurity defense.
• OpenAI is also putting the finishing touches on a new model, code-named Spud, that is also believed to represent a significant leap forward.