Meta launches an open-weight AI model that runs on Macs
Quick Look
Meta has unveiled Muse Spark Open, an open-weight AI model with 816 billion parameters and a 1 million token context window, designed to run locally on Mac computers, particularly the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra chip, and claims superior performance in coding and multimodal tasks compared to other open-weight models.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Meta has released Muse Spark Open as a new open-weight AI model with 816 billion parameters and a 1 million token context window, positioning it as a powerful tool for coding and multimodal tasks that can run locally on high-end Mac systems.
Meta has launched what it calls the “most capable” open-weight model in the United States. Dubbed Muse Spark Open, the model also has the distinction of having been designed to work with Macs.
The new model, which leverages 816 billion parameters and a 1 million token context window, claims to offer superior performance to other popular open weight models, according to evaluation results released by Meta on Thursday.
Muse Spark Open is natively multimodal and built for complex coding tasks and agentic labor. It has also been designed to run locally on Apple’s computers. However, you will still need a lot of power to run the model locally, with a requirement of at least 1 terabyte of RAM, per Engadget. The model will run best via the Mac Studio that comes equipped with the M5 Ultra chip.
Still, if you can muster the memory, Muse Spark Open may prove a significant work horse for coding and other desktop tasks. Meta says that it paired the model with Muse Code, its AI coding terminal, and deployed it to various agentic workflows, including coding fixes for a Mastodon client that included “bug fixes, new features, [and] full build.”
The company says it also deployed it in the service of running DaVinci Resolve, the high-end video editing software, revealing that the model was capable of reviewing and cropping footage.
Open-weight models provide a number of distinct industry advantages that aren’t afforded by closed and proprietary models. Open-weight models can be significantly more cost-efficient and can also offer transparency and flexibility that closed source models don’t allow.
Meta is making the new model available now through a number of different API platforms.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Meta will expand Muse Spark Open's availability to additional API platforms and hardware configurations in the coming months
Likely · Within months
Developers will begin integrating Muse Spark Open into local AI agent systems for automation tasks on Mac workstations
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- What is the exact pricing or access cost for using Muse Spark Open via API platforms?
- How does Muse Spark Open's performance compare quantitatively to leading closed-source models like GPT-4 or Claude 3?
- What specific agentic workflows beyond coding fixes and video editing has Meta tested the model in?
