Meta Struggles to Monetize Muse Spark After $14.3 Billion AI Bet and Llama 4 Misfire
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jun 14
Meta Struggles to Monetize Muse Spark After $14.3 Billion AI Bet and Llama 4 Misfire
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jun 14
Summary
Meta is still struggling to turn Muse Spark into a meaningful business a year after its $14.3 billion Scale AI deal, with investors still waiting for proof of paying users and AI-first revenue beyond advertising.
18% stock decline over the past 12 months underscores that skepticism, even after 33% first-quarter revenue growth, because ads still supply 98% of Meta's revenue and Wall Street remains unconvinced by its AI commercialization story.
Muse Spark, launched in April under Alexandr Wang's Meta Superintelligence Labs, shifted Meta toward proprietary models built mainly for Facebook, Instagram, Ray-Ban Meta glasses and its Meta AI app rather than broad outside developer use.
Llama 4's weak reception last year damaged Meta's standing with developers, and critics say limited access to Muse Spark plus a more walled-garden approach have left the AI community largely disengaged.
Meta says it is testing a Muse Spark API with early partners for release this month, but layoffs, internal pressure on AI leaders and Zuckerberg's $80 billion metaverse losses have raised the stakes for showing faster AI progress.