Meta's First Paid AI Model Undercuts OpenAI, Rivals Google

Meta launched its first paid AI model Thursday, pricing the API at roughly 25% of the cost OpenAI and Anthropic advertise for similar services. The move marks a shift from the company's open-source strategy and puts it in direct competition with Google's Gemini, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Muse Spark 1.1 Pricing and Performance Edge

Muse Spark 1.1 outperformed Google's Gemini in agentic reasoning and coding, Zuckerberg said. "That is a pretty interesting milestone because I think this may be the first time, at least that I can remember, that Meta's models are better than all of the Google models," he said. The model's chief improvement is in agentic AI, offering "state-of-the-art or very close to it" reasoning and tool use, according to the CEO.

Developers can use the model for free up to a token limit, then pay for access. The API pricing is about 25% of what OpenAI and Anthropic advertise, the report said. The aggressive pricing is meant to drive adoption, Zuckerberg argued.

Meta has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI but its prior models lagged rivals. The new model is more competitive, Zuckerberg said. The company also rolled out a new Meta Model API system to collect fees.

Meta's stock (META) rose 2.1% on the day to $615.80. The company's Alpha Score sits at 62 out of 100, a Moderate rating, reflecting balanced fundamentals and market positioning. The stock page is a useful reference for tracking the narrative.

The Muse Image model, launched earlier this week, also aims to drive adoption and monetization, though it raised privacy concerns. The paid API is the clearest signal yet that Meta is moving toward commercializing its AI investments.