'A new era for humanity' will be delayed: Meta postpones launch of new AI model - NYT
It lost in tests to AI from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic
"New era for humanity" delayed: Meta postpones launch of new AI model/Photo: shutterstock.com/Tada Images
Ma has postponed the release of a new artificial intelligence model codenamed Avocado: it will not be released until May, writes The New York Times. The owner of Instagram and WhatsApp made such a decision because internal tests showed weaker results of the model compared to the leading systems of competitors.
Details
The Avocado model has been in development for several months, but in tests of reasoning, code writing and texting, it has lost out to solutions from market leaders Google (Gemini), OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Anthropic (Claude), sources familiar with the situation told The New York Times.
According to them, Ma decided to postpone the launch of the model until at least May, although earlier the company had previously focused on March. The management of the AI division also discussed the possibility of temporarily licensing Gemini from Google to support the company's AI-based products, but the final decision has not yet been made, according to the NYT interlocutors.
"The new model will be good, but more importantly, it will demonstrate the rapid trajectory [of development] that we're on, and then we'll gradually push the boundaries throughout the year as we continue to release new models," NYT quoted Ma spokesman Dave Arnold as saying.
What about the stock
Meta shares were down 4.5% in trading on March 13 amid the NYT report. Since the beginning of 2026 securities of Mark Zuckerberg's company fell by 7%. Their average target price is $858.6, which implies an increase of 34.5% from the closing level of trading on March 12.
According to Marketwatch, most analysts advise buying Meta shares: they have 65 Buy and Overweight ratings versus seven Hold ratings. No one advises to sell the stock.
Context
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made the development of artificial intelligence a key bet of the company and has invested billions of dollars in the development of this area, notes The New York Times. In January, Meta projected capital expenditures of up to $135 billion in 2026 (almost double the $72 billion in 2025), mainly on data centers and computing infrastructure.
Zuckerberg has previously stated that Meta's long-term goal is to create a "super intelligent" AI system that could usher in "a new era for humanity."
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
