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Scoop: Meta to open source versions of its next AI models

Meta is preparing to release the first new AI models developed under Alexandr Wang, with plans to eventually offer versions of those models via an open source license, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Meta has been the largest U.S. player to let others modify its frontier models, and there has been growing speculation the company might retreat from that strategy altogether.

Before openly releasing versions of the new models, Meta wants to keep some pieces proprietary and to ensure they don't add new levels of safety risk, according to sources.

Between the lines: The move fits with Wang's view that Meta can be a force for democratizing access to the latest AI technology and ensuring that there is a U.S.-made option that is open for developers.

Wang sees Anthropic and OpenAI as increasingly focused on delivering their models to governments and the enterprise. By contrast, Meta's effort is focused on consumers, per sources. Meta wants its models distributed as widely and as broadly as possible around the world.

The big picture: Meta has said the first family of models is designed to help it catch up to rivals after its last Llama 4 family fell significantly behind, with an aim that future models that can lead the industry.

Yes, but: The leaders aren't standing still. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are hinting that their next models, also expected to drop soon, represent significant advances.

Meta knows its new models may not be competitive across the board with the coming ones from those labs, but believes it will have areas of strength that appeal to consumers, the sources said.

And don't expect a full return to Meta's earlier openness. Wang has indicated that some of its largest new models will remain proprietary — a shift toward a more hybrid strategy, according to sources.

Meta argues it still reaches users more broadly than rivals by embedding AI into WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram — free services with global scale that competitors can't easily match.

Our thought bubble: Meta's approach increasingly looks like a hedge: open enough to win developer mindshare and shape the ecosystem, but closed where it believes the biggest models confer a competitive edge.

That mirrors a broader industry shift, where even companies that champion openness are pulling back on their most powerful systems. Alibaba recently kept its most powerful new Qwen models proprietary, reversing its own open-source playbook.

Context: Wang joined Meta last year as part of a $15 billion deal with Scale AI, where he was CEO.