New Delhi | As the race in artificial intelligence escalates globally, Meta is unveiling a bold technology roadmap for 2026. Two key projects emerging from the company’s ‘Superintelligence Lab’—dubbed Mango and Avocado—are set to rival advanced AI models from competitors like Google. Insights from internal meetings reveal that both initiatives are expected to see phased rollouts in the first half of 2026.
Mango and Avocado: Defining the Roles
Mango is conceptualized as a high-end model focused on images and video, strategically aimed at challenging Google’s notable ‘Nano Banana’ and analogous multimodal systems. The model prioritizes deeper visual comprehension, superior content generation, and real-time analysis—attributes designed for creators, media outlets, and enterprises looking for enhanced capabilities.
In contrast, Avocado serves as a text-oriented AI system specializing in coding, logical reasoning, and developer productivity. Meta recognizes the importance of winning over developers’ trust as crucial to revamping its AI standing. With the rapid acceleration in both uptake and commercial utility in the development space, demonstrating significant improvements in coding performance is imperative.
A Major Push on ‘World Models’
Beyond just text, images, and video processing, Meta is advancing its efforts into ‘world models’. These innovations aim to transcend basic pattern recognition, enabling AI systems to interpret visual data, strategize actions, and make decisions in dynamic settings, inching closer to human-like reasoning capabilities.
The long-term goal is to develop AI tools capable of autonomous decision-making across diverse fields, including simulations, robotics, gaming, and tangible operational scenarios.
Why These Projects Matter
While Meta’s AI assistant already reaches hundreds of millions through its existing platforms, critics contend that it still lags behind OpenAI and Google in delivering a standalone AI solution that users actively opt for. Presently, Meta’s AI offerings are typically embedded as default features in social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, rather than standing alone.
Additionally, Meta’s AI division has undergone notable restructuring over the past year, with changes in leadership and several senior researchers leaving. In this context, Mango and Avocado represent more than just technical advancements; they are seen as the groundwork for Meta’s future consumer products and developer tools, serving as a litmus test for the company’s broader AI credibility.
The Investment–Return Dilemma
Despite pouring billions annually into AI development, Meta has yet to see a clear financial return on its investments. Transitioning from a primarily advertising-driven business model to one that leverages revenue from AI-driven tools and platforms represents a significant challenge ahead.
Several industry analysts speculate that if Mango succeeds in redefining visual AI capabilities and Avocado establishes dominance in coding and logical reasoning, Meta might unlock alternate revenue channels via enterprise contracts, developer subscription models, and a more extensive API ecosystem.
Why 2026 Could Be Decisive
Many experts regard 2026 as potentially transformative for AI, anticipating that multimodal intelligence, agent-based systems, and world models will gain mainstream traction. In this context, the performance of Mango and Avocado—and their consequent impact—will be instrumental in determining how effectively Meta can reclaim a leading position in the AI landscape.
For Meta, these projects symbolize much more than mere code names; they embody a crucial test of trust, competitiveness, and monetization potential. The outcomes slated for 2026 may indeed define whether Meta emerges as a pioneer in the next frontier of artificial intelligence or finds itself relegated to the sidelines.
