Date:
April 06, 2025
Meta unveils Llama 4 Scout, Maverick, and Behemoth models, aiming to challenge OpenAI and Google in the AI frontier.
Meta is making sure that they’re not here to play catch-up. The company dropped its most ambitious AI models yet!
In a move that underscores its growing ambition in the AI arms race, Meta has unveiled the Llama 4 family of models: Scout, Maverick, and the upcoming Behemoth. Each is designed with a specific role in mind, and together, they mark a serious leap forward for Meta’s AI roadmap, especially compared to their predecessor Llama 3.2.
Llama 4 Scout: Small, But Mighty
Don’t be fooled by its efficiency—Scout is a lean, powerful model that can run on a single Nvidia H100 GPU. With a massive 10 million-token context window, it’s made for tasks like code analysis and summarizing large documents. Meta claims Scout outperforms competitors like Mistral 3.1 and Google’s Gemma 3 across benchmarks.
Llama 4 Maverick: Built for Brains
Next up is Maverick, a more advanced model tailored for coding and complex reasoning. Despite being smaller in active parameters, it reportedly goes toe-to-toe with OpenAI’s GPT-4o and DeepSeek-V3. Think of it as Meta’s answer to today’s smartest general-purpose models.
Behemoth is Coming
While Scout and Maverick are already here, Meta’s not done. Behemoth—a model with a jaw-dropping 288 billion active parameters (and 2 trillion total)—is still in the works. Meta is positioning it as a STEM powerhouse, aimed at outperforming Claude 3.7 and even GPT-4.5 in scientific and technical domains. While the model is yet to be released, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says,
"It is the highest performing base model in the world, and we’re not even done training it yet.”
Smarter Architecture, Wider Reach
All models in the Llama 4 lineup use a “mixture of experts” (MoE) approach, which activates only the parts of the network needed for each task. That means better performance with less wasted compute—an important edge in today’s resource-hungry AI space.
Meta’s also embedding these models across its ecosystem to give smarter assistants in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Plus, through partnerships with Azure and AWS, developers can tap into Llama 4 via cloud platforms.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella seemed pretty pumped about that:
“Thrilled to bring Meta's Llama 4 Scout and Maverick to Foundry today as we continue to empower developers with cutting-edge AI tools.”
Big Bets, Bigger Bill
It hasn’t been smooth sailing. Meta reportedly delayed the rollout due to challenges in reasoning and conversation quality. But with a $65 billion investment in AI infrastructure, the company’s clearly playing the long game.
The launch of Llama 4 signals one thing loud and clear: Meta wants a front-row seat in the AI future—and it’s willing to spend big to get there.
