Meta Stock Soars 3.44% on Llama 4 AI Launch

On April 8, 2025, Meta's stock rose by 3.44% in pre-market trading, reflecting a positive market sentiment towards the company's recent developments and strategic initiatives.

Meta has recently launched its latest generative AI model, Llama 4, which is now available for users to experience on the meta AI website. This new model is set to enhance AI functionalities across Meta's platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The introduction of Llama 4 comes at a time when competition in the AI sector is intensifying, with companies striving to develop models capable of performing complex tasks and advanced reasoning while minimizing computational costs. Meta aims to gain an edge over competitors like ChatGPT and Gemini with its latest AI advancements.

Llama 4 offers two models: Scout and Maverick. Both are open-weight models with multimodal capabilities, allowing them to generate text, images, and code. This openness enables developers to understand the model's architecture and how certain features are prioritized during learning. Meta's move towards open-weight models aligns with a broader industry trend, as OpenAI recently announced its first open-weight model development.

Scout, the smaller of the two models, is designed to run on a single Nvidia H100 GPU and features a 1000 million token context window, 170 billion parameters, and 16 expert systems. This configuration makes Scout more efficient and powerful than its predecessor, Llama 3, which had 80 billion parameters. Maverick, the larger model, boasts 170 billion parameters and 128 expert systems, outperforming ChatGPT-4 and DeepSeek V3 in text generation, although DeepSeek maintains an advantage in reasoning and programming tasks.

Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has hinted at more information about additional Llama 4 models, including the Behemoth base model and the Llama 4 inference model, which are expected to be revealed later this month. The company's first AI developer conference, LlamaCon, scheduled to begin on April 29, will likely provide further insights into these developments.

In addition to its AI advancements, Meta is set to showcase two innovative research prototype headsets at the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2023 conference. These headsets, ButterscotchVarifocal and Flamera, represent significant strides in VR technology. ButterscotchVarifocal features variable focus optics, allowing users to adjust focus from 25 centimeters to infinity, addressing common issues with VR headsets and enhancing user comfort and visual experience. Flamera, on the other hand, employs light field technology to create a new form of visual presentation, described as a "computational camera," which improves the display of real-world environments and enhances real-time interaction in VR applications.

These technological advancements are part of Meta's broader strategy to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving VR market. With competitors like Apple Vision Pro and Quest Pro pushing the boundaries of VR technology, Meta's innovations are crucial for maintaining its market position and influencing industry trends. The company's focus on improving VR content quality and user experience is expected to drive future product developments and shape the VR industry landscape.