Meta releases scaled-down AI model that consumers can use at home

Published Mon, Aug 10, 2026 · 06:58 PM

[CALIFORNIA] Meta Platforms introduced a new artificial intelligence model that is light enough to run on a single computer, allowing users to download and customise the technology.

The new Muse Glimmer is a distilled version of the company’s Muse Spark 1.2 model, designed with a focus on efficiency to minimise system requirements, Meta said on Monday (Aug 10).

At 30 billion parameters, the Muse Glimmer is “small enough” to need only one graphics card to power its work, which will primarily involve agent-like AI tasks such as schedule management and file organisation, according to Meta.

The weights, or values that help the AI system make decisions, for Muse Glimmer will be available on Hugging Face, and Meta also intends to make the weights for a version of the more powerful Muse Spark available as well.

The move to release these AI models under a permissive licence mirrors competition in China, where startups such as DeepSeek and Moonshot, along with Internet giant Alibaba, have adopted the practice to attract the largest number of users.

Meta is in a global race to deliver AI breakthroughs and benefits that would eventually pay off lavish spending on hardware and data centres to develop the technology.

Along with US peers Amazon.com, Alphabet and Microsoft, Meta has committed more than US$2 trillion to expanding its capabilities. Developing AI models and tools that entice people to use it over those rivals will help the company secure long-term business.

It is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, along the lines of Amazon Web Services.

California-based Meta also said on Monday that it intends to set up a US$1 billion fund to invest in US communities where Meta owns and operates data centres.

SEE ALSO

The runaway spending by hyperscalers such as Meta and Google has been met with resistance in many locations across the US where the companies are setting up resource-hungry operations. BLOOMBERG