Meta's Llama AI models reached 1 billion downloads

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the company's Llama AI models have reached a significant milestone of 1 billion downloads. This marks a dramatic increase from 650 million downloads in December 2024, representing a growth of 153% over just three months. Llama is designed to support Meta's AI assistant, which is used across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The models are available for free, although some developers have expressed concerns about the licensing terms that limit commercial use. Despite facing challenges, Llama has gained popularity with companies like Spotify and AT&T integrating it into their operations. However, Meta is dealing with legal issues, including an AI copyright lawsuit claiming the models were trained using copyrighted ebooks without permission. In addition, several European Union countries have raised data privacy concerns, causing Meta to delay or cancel some launches of its Llama models. Competing models, such as those from DeepSeek, have exceeded Llama's performance, prompting Meta to adapt its development strategies. Meta plans to invest up to $80 billion in AI projects this year, which includes hiring more staff and building new data centers. The company aims to introduce several new Llama models in the coming months, including advanced reasoning capabilities and features that allow the models to perform tasks autonomously. Zuckerberg believes that 2025 could be a breakthrough year for Llama and open-source AI models in general. He hinted that more announcements regarding new features may come during LlamaCon, Meta's first generative AI developer conference slated for April 29.