Mark Zuckerberg Announces Meta's Llama Model Hits 1 Billion Downloads: 'Each Llama Download Represents A Vote Of Confidence In Open Source AI,' Says VP

Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company’s AI model family, ‘Llama’, has reached a milestone of 1 billion downloads.

What Happened: Zuckerberg announced on Threads on Tuesday as he posted a meme stating ‘Me finding out Llama hit 1 Billion downloads’.

The increase indicates nearly a 54% surge from the 650 million downloads recorded in early December 2024. Llama, the AI that powers Meta’s AI assistant across various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is a crucial component of Meta’s broader AI product ecosystem strategy.

Despite certain commercial restrictions in its license terms that have sparked concerns among developers, Llama has seen extensive adoption since its 2023 launch. Major companies like Spotify Technology SA SPOT, AT&T Inc. T, and DoorDash Inc. DASH are currently utilizing Llama models in their operations.

Ahmad Al-Dahle, VP and Head of GenAI at Meta posted about the achievement on LinkedIn. "Each Llama download represents a vote of confidence in open source AI – and a shared belief that we can go so much further building together,” said Al-Dahle.

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Why It Matters: In January, Zuckerberg revealed ambitious plans for Llama 4, the next-generation open-source artificial intelligence model. The announcement came during Meta's fourth-quarter earnings call, highlighting the industry's shift toward more autonomous AI systems.

Zuckerberg also ensured that the Llama investment cycle will continue, with expectations for internal operational improvement, early wins on the consumer-facing side, and with advertisers.

That being said, Llama’s journey has faced obstacles. It’s currently embroiled in an AI copyright lawsuit accusing Meta of using copyrighted e-books for model training without permission. Furthermore, data privacy issues have compelled Meta to postpone or cancel Llama’s launch in several EU countries.

Despite this, Meta plans to launch new Llama models with reasoning, multimodal capabilities, and ‘agentic’ features in the coming months.

Meta stock lost 3.73% to close at $582.36 on Tuesday. The stock surged 17.35% over the past year, as per Benzinga Pro.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.