Facebook-parent Meta may soon bring its Google's Nano Banana rivals: Report

Facebook-parent Meta is working on new AI image and video generation tools, reports The Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the topic, the report says that Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang talked about the artificial intelligence models in an internal company Q&A with Meta’s chief product officer, Chris Cox this week. One of the tools is reportedly codenamed ‘Mango’. Another AI model is codenamed ‘Avocado’. Speaking about the Avocado model, Wang said that the focus of the upcoming new AI model is to improve coding skills. The new models are expected to be released in the first half of 2026. The upcoming Meta’s AI image and video tools will compete with Google's Nano Banana and Veo, and OpenAI's ChatGPT Image and Sora.Meta has been pushing hard to lead the AI race. Earlier this year, the company restructured its AI team. The tech firm also hired AI chief Alexander Wang in a $14 billion deal, acquiring 49% stake in Scale AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally led the AI hiring drive, recruiting more than 20 researchers from ChatGPT maker OpenAI. He has build a team of over 50 newly recruited researchers, engineers and other AI specialists.In September this year, Meta released an AI video generator called Vibes. The development of Mango and Avocado marks the first major project from Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a new division formed after a major restructuring earlier this year. To build the group, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a direct role in hiring, bringing in more than 20 researchers from OpenAI and appointing 28-year-old Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to lead the team.The move shows Zuckerberg’s push to quickly catch up with competitors in the AI race. As part of this shift, Meta is reported to have spent more than $14 billion to buy a near-majority stake in Scale AI, putting Wang in charge of shaping Meta’s AI plans after its Llama models.