Meta Hosts Its First LlamaCon — But Can It Win Back AI Developers?
At startswithAI.com, we love keeping an eye on how the AI space is shifting — and this week, all eyes are on Meta. On Tuesday, the company is hosting its first-ever LlamaCon AI developer conference at its Menlo Park HQ. The goal? To convince developers to build with its open Llama AI models and help shape what Meta hopes will be a thriving open-source AI ecosystem.
But here’s the thing — Meta’s not exactly at the top of its game right now.
So, What’s Going On?
Meta’s Llama 3 models were once popular among developers. They provided AI developers with something to be enthusiastic about: they were open, powerful, and versatile. But when Llama 4 was released earlier this month, the excitement subsided. Benchmarks failed to impress, and a contentious benchmarking episode involving their “Maverick” model unnerved several members of the development community.
Perhaps even more surprising? There is no AI reasoning model in the Llama 4 roster, which is a feature that most major players now offer. That has led some experts to believe Meta rushed this version to market.
So, What Does This Mean for People?
For developers, it’s a mixed bag. Open AI models are critical for research, innovation, and tool development beyond the control of large, closed platforms. If Meta can regain trust and enhance its models, it may provide more freedom and resources to independent developers, academics, and tiny enterprises.
However, if Meta continues to fall short, developers may look elsewhere, such as fast-growing open laboratories like DeepSeek or commercial solutions like OpenAI’s GPT-4o. The open-source AI ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and no one can afford to fall behind.
Our Thoughts
Honestly? This is a make-or-break moment for Meta. We’ve been saying for a while that the future of AI will be built by open communities and tools developers actually want to use. LlamaCon is Meta’s chance to prove it still gets that.
We’re rooting for a comeback — not just for Meta, but for the health of open AI ecosystems in general. Because when developers have more choices and open tools, the whole AI space moves forward faster and fairer.
We’ll be watching closely