Meta Superintelligence Labs

New Capabilities

Muse Spark launched April 2026 and updated in July; parallel Applied AI Engineering unit limits lab's exclusive control of model development

Meta shipped Muse Spark, code-named Avocado, in April 2026—its first proprietary foundation model and a ground-up departure from the Llama architecture. The model ranked fourth on Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index at launch, behind rivals at Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, but Meta's stock rose about 10% in the five days after release.

Updated 7 days ago

New Capabilities

Delivered first model; controls all Meta AI research and products

For three years, Meta staked its AI strategy on open-source; the Llama series became the industry's most widely used open-weight model family. On April 8, 2026, Meta released Muse Spark from its new Superintelligence Labs—and kept it closed, a shift for a company that once argued open-source would defeat proprietary rivals the way Linux beat Unix.

Updated May 30

Money Moves

Receiving engineers transferred from across Meta during May restructuring

Meta will cut 8,000 jobs on May 20 and scrap 6,000 open roles it had planned to fill. HR head Janelle Gale framed the layoffs as the price of Meta's $145 billion AI infrastructure bill, with more cuts planned for the second half of 2026.

Updated May 13