Meta’s Muse Spark Open isn't quite so open

Meta has returned to the open-weight AI scene with Muse Spark Open, a large model unveiled on October 15. The company released the model's weights, allowing developers to run it on their own hardware without paying a license fee. However, there are conditions attached to selling access to the model.

Muse Spark Open is designed for coding and AI agents, boasting 816 billion parameters, with 42 billion of those active during each training session. It can handle up to 1 million tokens in a single request, providing ample capacity for working with large datasets.

Developers can access the model through Hugging Face, cloud platforms, or via providers such as Groq and OpenRouter. Meta also enables running the model locally using two Apple Mac Studios with M5 Ultra chips.

The license for Muse Spark Open carries "limited commercial terms," enabling many developers to use the model for free. Key restrictions apply to companies that offer the model as a service, generating more than $20 million in gross revenue within a 12-month period. Such companies must notify Meta and sign a separate written agreement before offering Muse Spark Open or any derived models.

The license also mandates that products utilizing Muse Spark Open must display "Built with Muse Spark Open" prominently in their interface, documentation, website, or settings menu. Additionally, any models that developers create, train, or improve using Muse Spark Open must also display the required notice.