Meta releases Muse Spark Open, an 816B-parameter open-weight multimodal model

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the model sits at 39, ahead of West open-weight models but behind China’s GLM 5.3 (45), Kimi K3 (44) and Qwen3.8 (40). Spark Open matches or tops open rivals on multimodal and knowledge tasks, though Chinese models still code better. It is the third major Western open launch this month after Reflection AI’s Beam and Mistral’s 1T-parameter Le Chonk, whose weights arrive Oct. 27.

Meta’s move signals a return to open model strategy after its earlier shift to closed Llama models. The release gives U.S. developers a large open-weight model that can run locally, potentially reducing cloud dependence, and challenges China’s dominance in the open-model race.