ChatGPT Killer by Meta to Launch in 2026: Zuckerberg's AI Masterplan Revealed

The worldwide AI race is about to get a new warrior: Meta is reportedly ready to launch a new AI model at the beginning of 2026, and it seems designed to dethrone ChatGPT.

It is being codenamed 'Avocado,' and this system is being developed under Meta's newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a top team tasked with changing the meaning of generative AI. But the main question is, can it actually dethrone OpenAI's leading general in this war?

What is Avacodo From Meta?

Dethroning ChatGPT is no joke, as in many places, the very meaning of AI is ChatGPT. It has become like a synonym for artificial intelligence, and it's this that is seemingly pushing all its rivals, including Meta. It all started in 2025, when Meta launched its latest bunch of language models under the Llama 4 brand.

The company launched three variants, which were Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, and Llama 4 Behemoth, reportedly trained across huge text, image, and video banks to provide huge 'multimodal' capabilities, including improved understanding of images and documents.

Then, according to sources, Meta released a standalone AI assistant app, Meta AI, built on Llama 4. The app is available on Android and iOS, with features such as voice-enabled chat, image generation, and personalised replies informed by data from existing Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Nevertheless, sources near the company now say that Meta is far from finished. According to the latest reports, the firm's goals extend beyond the current app and Llama 4 models. It seems the next target is a new, far more powerful model called Avocado, being developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Initial expectations had the release before the end of 2025, but those plans have reportedly slipped, and the new timeline now targets a public debut in the first quarter of 2026.

Moreover, Meta's new AI project follows a strategic realignment. The lab at Meta draws talent from top AI organisations, according to sources, including engineers and researchers allegedly poached from OpenAI and Google. The goal here, according to insiders, is nothing less than a literal 'superintelligence', which means a level where an AI might rival human capabilities.

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ChatGPT, Google Should Be Warned

Now, the launch of Avocado would massively escalate competition in the AI assistant space. By positioning a new Meta flagship model for 2026, the company is clearly showing intent to match or outperform systems such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and models from rivals like Google Gemini.

Furthermore, one notable difference may be Meta's decision to open-source. It seems that previous iterations of Llama were distributed openly, letting researchers worldwide see and learn from Meta's work. However, according to new reports, Avocado could be proprietary, which means, just like ChatGPT or Gemini, it may not provide downloadable weights or direct access to its core components.

This major shift in thinking reflects common industry trends. As generative AI becomes increasingly irreplaceable to business strategies, companies now treat their models as assets rather than as open-source contributions. So, for Meta, a closed model could give tighter control over performance, data usage, monetisation, and user experience, but it might also attract criticism from the developer base.

Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, appears optimistic about the new direction. In recent statements, he said,

'I think that we've already built the lab with the highest talent density in the industry... We're heads down developing our next generation of models and products, and I'm looking forward to sharing more on that front over the coming months.'

Whether this Meta Avocado will actually be a ChatGPT killer is hard to say, but given ChatGPT's first-mover advantage and dominance, it's highly unlikely.