Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has unveiled its latest artificial intelligence models under the Llama 4 series, marking a major development in the generative AI space. These new models — Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, and the soon-to-be-released Llama 4 Behemoth — aim to position Meta as a leader in advanced AI capabilities.
What Is Llama 4? Meta’s Next Step in Generative AI
Meta’s Llama 4 AI models are designed to perform complex tasks across multiple domains, including text, images, audio, video, and code. The models are part of Meta’s effort to provide high-performance, large language models (LLMs) that compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Gemini.
Llama 4 Scout: Small but Powerful
Llama 4 Scout is the lightest model in the series but offers high efficiency. With 109 billion parameters and 16 Mixture of Experts (MoE), it excels at:
- Fast, real-time responses
- Multi-document summarization
- Parsing user data for personalized outputs
- Long-context reasoning with a 10 million token window
Scout is ideal for developers seeking a fast, lightweight AI model for complex but speed-sensitive tasks.
Llama 4 Maverick: Multimodal Intelligence at Scale
The Llama 4 Maverick model is significantly larger, with 400 billion parameters and 128 experts, making it Meta’s flagship multimodal AI model. It handles:
- Text, audio, image, and video inputs
- Coding and technical reasoning
- Multilingual content generation
- Long-context understanding
In benchmark tests, Maverick outperformed GPT-4o, Gemini 2.0, and performed on par with DeepSeek v3.1, particularly in code generation and language reasoning.
Llama 4 Behemoth: Meta’s Most Ambitious AI Yet
Still in training, the Llama 4 Behemoth model is expected to have 2 trillion parameters, making it one of the most powerful base models in the AI space. According to Meta, Behemoth will be optimized for:
- Advanced reasoning tasks
- Mathematical problem-solving
- Multilingual and image-based challenges
While it has not been publicly released, Behemoth is expected to challenge the biggest names in AI when it launches later this year.
Meta’s “Open Weight” vs. Open Source
Although Meta promotes Llama 4 as part of its open AI initiative, the models are technically “open weight” — meaning users can access and use the models but cannot view or modify the training data or architecture. Critics argue this doesn’t meet true open-source AI standards.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated the goal is to make high-performing AI accessible to everyone, and that open models will shape the future of AI development.
Availability: Not Yet in Europe
Llama 4 models are currently not available in Europe, likely due to data privacy regulations. The company previously delayed Llama launches in the EU due to concerns over how training data, sourced from Meta platforms, was handled. However, users outside Europe can download the models via Meta AI and Hugging Face.
Bias Reduction and Political Neutrality
Meta claims the Llama 4 series features reduced political bias compared to earlier large language models. The company says it has trained Llama 4 to offer more balanced perspectives, making it suitable for a wider range of social, political, and cultural content applications.
Key Takeaways
- Llama 4 Scout: Fast, efficient, and great for real-time summarization
- Llama 4 Maverick: Full multimodal capabilities for advanced AI tasks
- Llama 4 Behemoth: A massive AI model still in training, promising unmatched power
- Open Weight Access: Publicly usable but not fully open-source
- Limited Availability: Not currently available in the EU
- Bias Reduction: Designed to provide balanced outputs in sensitive topics
Final Thoughts
With the launch of Llama 4, Meta is taking a bold step into the future of AI, offering competitive models with open accessibility and high performance. As the company prepares to release the Llama 4 Behemoth, the generative AI landscape may be set for another major shift.