Meta's new Llama 4 models vs ChatGPT: Who’s Winning the AI Chatbot War?

The artificial intelligence race has heated up yet again with Meta's official release of its Llama 4 series of AI models, designed to compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. With two new models—Llama 4 Maverick and Llama 4 Scout—already available for public use, and a third ultra-powerful model Llama 4 Behemoth on the way, Meta is making an aggressive push into the chatbot space.

So how do Meta's new Llama models stack up against ChatGPT, especially after OpenAI recently enhanced its capabilities with native image generation?

Overview: Meta’s Llama 4 AI Models

Meta’s Llama 4 models are integrated into its Meta AI chatbot, now available across major platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Meta’s web app. Here’s what’s new:

The Models:

1. Llama 4 Scout

   • 17 billion active parameters

   • 16 experts with a total of 109 billion parameters

   • Fits on a single Nvidia H100 GPU

   • 10-million-token context window

   • Optimized for:

     • Document summarization

     • Reasoning over codebases

   • Outperforms:

     • Google’s Gemma 3

     • Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite

     • Mistral 3.1

2. Llama 4 Maverick

   • 17 billion active parameters with 128 experts

   • Designed as a "product workhorse"

   • Ideal for:

     • General assistant use

     • Chat experiences

     • Creative writing

     • Image understanding

   • Comparable to:

     • OpenAI’s GPT-4o

     • DeepSeek-V3

   • Uses less than half the active parameters of some competitors, yet delivers similar performance

3. Llama 4 Behemoth (Upcoming)

   • 288 billion active parameters

   • 2 trillion total parameters

   • Currently in training

   • Meta claims it outperforms:

     • GPT-4.5

     • Claude Sonnet 3.7

   • Especially strong on STEM benchmarks

Key Innovations:

• Mixture of Experts (MoE) Architecture:
  Inspired by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, this technique selectively activates different parts of the model based on the task, significantly improving performance and efficiency.

• Multimodal Capabilities:
  Pre-trained on text, image, and video, Llama 4 models can interpret and generate both visual and textual content. However, multimodal features are currently limited to English users in the U.S.

Technical Specifications and Model Breakdown

1. Llama 4 Maverick

• 17 billion active parameters

• 128 experts

• Designed as a “product workhorse” for general assistant use, creative writing, and precise image understanding

• Comparable to OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 Flash

2. Llama 4 Scout

• 17 billion active parameters, 16 experts, 109 billion total parameters

• Optimized for document summarization and reasoning over code bases

• Packs a powerful 10-million-token context window, beating benchmarks from Gemma 3, Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite, and Mistral 3.1

3. Llama 4 Behemoth (In Development)

• 288 billion active parameters, 2 trillion total parameters

• Expected to be Meta’s top-of-the-line model, designed to outperform GPT-4.5 and Claude Sonnet 3.7

• Claimed to excel in STEM benchmarks

All three models leverage Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture. This innovative approach, popularized by Chinese startup DeepSeek, enables only specific parts of the model to be activated per task. This improves efficiency while maintaining high performance.

Meta AI vs ChatGPT: Head-to-Head Comparison

Benchmarks & Performance

• Llama 4 Maverick leads both GPT-4o and GPT-4.5 Preview on the LMarena leaderboard, second only to Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental).

• Meta claims superior performance in:

  • Coding

  • Reasoning

  • Multilingual tasks

  • Long-context retention

  • Image understanding

• However, these benchmarks can shift rapidly with software updates.

Image Generation: Meta AI vs ChatGPT

Image generation has become a key battleground in the AI space. Here’s how the two platforms compare:

ChatGPT:

• Recently added native image generation, including:

  • Photorealistic visuals

  • Context-aware outputs

  • Editing user-uploaded images

• Sparked viral trends, such as Studio Ghibli-style generations

• Free users are limited to 3 images/day

Meta AI:

• Also claims native multimodal capabilities

• Currently underwhelming image outputs compared to ChatGPT

• Features restricted to English users in the U.S.

Reasoning Capabilities

• ChatGPT (with models like o3-Mini and o1):

  • Equipped with reasoning engines that mimic human-like thinking

  • Excel in complex queries in math, science, and logic

• Meta AI:

  • Currently lacks a reasoning model

  • Meta is expected to introduce one—likely part of **Behemoth or a new variant—**at the LlamaCon conference on April 29

Research & Search Features

• ChatGPT:

  • Offers Deep Research Mode, tapping into web content for richer, assistant-level insights

  • Competes directly with Perplexity AI, Grok, and Gemini

• Meta AI:

  • Lacks equivalent search functionality at the time of writing

Pricing & Availability

Meta AI (Llama 4):

• Free to use

• No restriction on usage so far

• Available directly inside WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger

• No separate sign-up required

ChatGPT (OpenAI):

• Access to latest models is limited for free users

• After a few prompts, it reverts to older GPT models

• Daily limit of 3 image generations

• Requires account registration via OpenAI website or app

The Open-Source Debate

Meta touts the Llama 4 models as "open-source", available for download via Meta’s site and Hugging Face. However, there are license restrictions:

• Commercial users with over 700 million monthly active users must request permission from Meta.

• This led the Open Source Initiative to argue that Llama does not meet open-source standards.

Meta AI vs ChatGPT: Features and Functionality

What's Next? All Eyes on LlamaCon

Meta plans to unveil more details and roadmap updates for its AI initiatives at the LlamaCon conference on April 29th. Expectations are high for:

• The launch of Llama 4 Behemoth

• Introduction of a reasoning-capable Llama 4 variant

• Expanded multimodal support globally

• Possibly, deeper integration with Meta’s metaverse initiatives

Final Thoughts: Is Meta AI Ready to Beat ChatGPT?

While Meta has made significant strides with Llama 4 Maverick and Scout, ChatGPT still leads in terms of image quality, reasoning capabilities, and research tools. However, Meta’s potential—especially with Behemoth and upcoming announcements at LlamaCon—could reshape the AI landscape in the coming months.

With inputs from agencies

Image Source: Multiple agencies

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