Meta unveils ‘Muse Spark’ AI model

Performs better, but lags behind in coding

- ELI TAN

The new Meta Lab flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

(NYT)

Meta on Wednesday unveiled a new flagship artificial intelligence model called Muse Spark, its first under the revamped Al division that Mark Zuckerberg spent billions to build last year as the company pushes to catch up to rivals.

On tests that measure writing and reasoning, Muse Spark performed significantly better than Meta’s previous AI models and was nearly as good as the top models from competitors such as Google, OpenAl and Anthropic, according to data provided by Meta.

But the model still lagged behind on coding ability, which has become the focus of Anthropic and others in the wider AI race. Meta’s announcement comes one day after Anthropic said its latest Al model, Mythos, was too powerful to safely release because of cybersecurity threats.

How Meta's new AI model performs is being closely watched. Anthropic, Google and OpenAl are regarded as the leaders in developing foundational AI models, and Mr Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, has pledged to catch up at any cost.