Meta Stock AI Model Delayed to May as Google and OpenAI Pull Ahead

TLDR

• Meta has pushed back its next major AI model, codenamed “Avocado,” to at least May 2026.
• The model’s performance currently falls between Google’s Gemini 2.5 and Gemini 3.
• Meta is reportedly considering temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini to power its AI products.
• Meta last released a cutting-edge AI model — Llama 3 — back in 2024.
• The delay comes as Meta plans to spend up to $135 billion on capital expenditure in 2026.

Meta’s “Avocado” AI model has been delayed to at least May after internal testing found it fell short of rivals. The company is reportedly weighing a temporary license deal with Google’s Gemini.

What’s Going On With Meta’s Next AI Model?

Meta Platforms has delayed the release of its next AI model, internally codenamed “Avocado,” pushing it back from this month to at least May — and possibly as late as June.

Meta Platforms, Inc., META

The New York Times first reported the delay, citing sources familiar with the matter. Reuters separately confirmed that the model’s current performance falls between Google’s Gemini 2.5 and Gemini 3 — in other words, it’s not where Meta needs it to be.

The last time Meta released a truly cutting-edge AI model was Llama 3 in 2024. Since then, Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s GPT, and Anthropic’s Claude have all moved ahead.

Meta did release two lighter versions of Llama 4 last year, designed to run on limited hardware. Those were supposed to be followed by a larger, more powerful model called “Behemoth” — but there’s been silence on that front too.

A Meta spokesperson said: “As we’ve said publicly, our next model will be good, but more importantly, show the rapid trajectory we’re on, and then we’ll steadily push the frontier over the course of the year as we continue to release new models.” The spokesperson added: “We’re excited for people to see what we’ve been cooking very soon.”

Meta stock fell around 2% in early Friday trading.

Could Meta End Up Licensing Google’s AI?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Leaders within Meta’s AI division have reportedly discussed temporarily licensing Google’s Gemini to power the company’s products while Avocado is finished. No decision has been made yet, but the conversation is happening.

That would be a tough pill to swallow for CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He has invested heavily in his Superintelligence Labs division, pulling together some of the industry’s top AI talent. The company has laid out capital spending plans of between $115 billion and $135 billion for 2026, much of it aimed at building AI infrastructure.

A Gemini licensing deal would effectively hand Alphabet a public win — shifting its reputation from perceived AI laggard to a company others are now paying to use.

Meta has delivered real returns from AI already — better ad targeting, improved content recommendations, and its own in-house chips for recommendation models. It also holds a dominant position in the smart glasses market.

But Zuckerberg has publicly committed to building a “personal superintelligence” — a Meta-developed system that could eventually challenge Apple and other smartphone platforms as the go-to everyday computing device. That goal requires Meta to have a leading model, not a licensed one.

For now, the Avocado delay remains the story. Meta stock was down around 2% on Friday as of early trading.

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