Meta May Delay ‘Avocado’ As Tech Underwhelms In Tests Against Google Gemini And Anthropic AI Models: Report

by | Mar 13, 2026 | General

Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) upcoming foundational AI model, code-named “Avocado,” has reportedly underperformed compared with systems from competitors during internal evaluations.

Meta’s ‘Avocado’ AI Model Reportedly Falls Short In Internal Tests

Internal tests showed “Avocado” is lagging behind newer models from companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Anthropic, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The model is designed to power future chatbots, coding assistants and other AI-driven products across Meta’s ecosystem.

While Avocado performed better than Meta’s earlier AI systems and even surpassed an earlier version of Google’s Gemini model, it reportedly did not match the capabilities of the latest Gemini release.

Launch Delayed As Meta Explores Alternatives

Because of the performance gap, Meta has reportedly pushed Avocado’s launch back to at least May, from an earlier planned release this month.

Executives have also discussed the possibility of temporarily licensing technology from Google’s Gemini models to support some of Meta’s AI products, though no final decision has been made.

Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

Zuckerberg’s Massive AI Bet

Zuckerberg has positioned AI as central to Meta’s future strategy. The company has spent billions hiring researchers and building infrastructure to support the technology.

In January 2026, Meta projected it could spend as much as $135 billion this year, nearly double the roughly $72 billion it spent last year, as it expands data centers and AI capabilities.

Meta is also developing additional models, including “Mango,” focused on image and video generation. Moreover, a future system is reportedly planned under the code name “Watermelon.”

Price Action: On Thursday, Shares of Meta fell 2.55% to $638.18 and slipped another 0.18% to $637 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro.

According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, Meta shares are trending lower in the short, medium and long-term, though the company’s Quality score were in the 89th percentile.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo: PJ McDonnell / Shutterstock