According to a Thursday report, Meta's newly developed foundational AI model, codenamed "Avocado," has demonstrated inferior performance compared to rival AI systems, leading the company to postpone its release. The model, initially scheduled for a launch this month, has been pushed back to at least May.

The report also indicated that the head of Meta's AI division had considered temporarily licensing Google's Gemini model to support the company's suite of AI tools.

Meta has invested billions of dollars to attract top AI researchers and technical talent. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated the company plans to invest at least $600 billion in data centers and other infrastructure projects. An internal memo from February described "Avocado" as Meta's "most capable pre-trained foundational model to date."

Meta has not yet commented on the matter.