Meta Shifts to Proprietary AI as Watermelon Reportedly Gets 10x the Compute of Avocado

Meta is reportedly escalating its AI strategy by allocating ten times more compute to its next proprietary model, Watermelon, than it did to Avocado. According to comments attributed to Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang, the move signals a broader shift away from the open-source Llama line toward closed, in-house systems designed to narrow the gap with OpenAI. The report also notes that Avocado was delayed to May 2026 after trailing Google Gemini 3.0 in November last year, while Watermelon is said to have reached the level of GPT-5.5. Combined with Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI and Wang’s appointment as Chief AI Officer, the development is drawing attention from crypto market participants watching AI-linked infrastructure plays. In particular, the news may affect sentiment around decentralized compute platforms such as Render and Akash, although no direct on-chain, revenue, or partnership data was cited in the source report.