Meta shifts full focus to closed-source models, new model Avocado expected to launch next spring

TechFlow news, on December 10, after investing tens of billions of dollars over several months to build the most expensive team in tech history, Meta CEO Zuckerberg is deeply involved in daily R&D and pushing the company's strategy toward AI models that can be directly monetized. According to insiders, a new model codenamed "Avocado" is expected to launch in spring 2026 and may be released as closed-source (strictly controlled by Meta and sold via access licenses). This marks a significant departure from Meta's long-standing advocacy of open-source. Zuckerberg has devoted substantial time to a core team called TBD Lab, which integrated third-party models—including Google's Gemma, OpenAI's gpt-oss, and Alibaba's Qwen—during Avocado's training. Meanwhile, Meta is significantly reallocating resources, cutting investments in the metaverse and virtual reality, shifting funds toward hardware such as AI glasses, and planning to invest $600 billion in AI infrastructure across the United States over the next three years. (Jinshi)