Meta has introduced its next-generation artificial intelligence models, the Llama 4 family, featuring cutting-edge performance aimed at revolutionizing AI interactions across its various platforms, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. The lineup currently consists of two models available for public download—Llama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick—with a third, Llama 4 Behemoth, still under development and expected to become Meta’s flagship model.
Llama 4 Scout is designed as a compact yet powerful AI solution optimized for operation on a single Nvidia H100 GPU. Despite its relatively small footprint, Scout stands out with an impressive 10-million-token context window, significantly exceeding many competitors in working memory capacity. Meta asserts that Scout surpasses Google’s Gemma 3 and Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite in various benchmark tests, setting a new standard for efficiency and compactness in AI model design.
Stepping up in capability, Llama 4 Maverick competes directly with heavyweight models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o and DeepSeek-V3. Meta claims that Maverick not only matches but often exceeds these larger models, particularly excelling in advanced reasoning tasks and complex code generation scenarios. Remarkably, Maverick achieves these impressive outcomes with fewer active parameters, enhancing its efficiency and accessibility.
The standout innovation in Meta’s new suite is undoubtedly the Llama 4 Behemoth. Currently still in the training phase, Behemoth boasts a colossal 2 trillion total parameters, with 288 billion parameters active at any given time. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted Behemoth as the “highest performing base model globally,” particularly excelling in STEM-oriented applications and outperforming other advanced models, such as GPT-4.5 and Claude Sonnet 3.7 from Anthropic in key benchmarks.
A notable aspect of the Llama 4 models is their use of the “mixture of experts” (MoE) architecture. This dynamic structure activates only necessary model parts for specific tasks, drastically enhancing efficiency and scalability. This approach allows Llama 4 models to deliver exceptional performance without excessive computational demands, aligning with Meta’s ambition to democratize advanced AI technology.
However, while Meta promotes Llama 4 as open-source, certain licensing conditions have sparked controversy. The current terms require explicit permission from Meta for any organization with over 700 million monthly active users to employ the models commercially. This specific clause has prompted criticism from the Open Source Initiative and other advocates, who argue that such restrictions prevent Llama 4 from being genuinely classified as open-source software.
Meta plans to further elaborate on its AI strategies and the future trajectory of Llama 4 during its upcoming LlamaCon event on April 29. This conference promises to shed additional light on Meta’s ongoing developments in artificial intelligence, offering insights into how the company intends to maintain its competitive edge and reshape user interaction through AI-driven solutions.
With the launch of Llama 4, Meta continues to push boundaries, promising to enhance AI capabilities dramatically across industries and setting the stage for a new era of intelligent, interactive technology.
