Is Avocado… Toast?

March 13, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Meta’s next-generation AI model, codenamed Avocado, has been delayed until at least May because it still cannot match the performance of leading rivals on internal benchmarks. Meanwhile, the bellwether social media addiction trial against Meta and YouTube is heading to the jury, and streaming services from Peacock to Disney+ are racing to add TikTok-style vertical video feeds to their mobile apps. Here is what happened today in tech.

Meta’s Avocado Model Falls Short, Licensing Gemini Considered

Meta has delayed the launch of its foundational AI model, codenamed Avocado, to at least May after internal tests showed it underperformed against leading models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic on reasoning, coding, and writing benchmarks. According to three people with knowledge of the matter speaking to the Times, Avocado outperformed Meta’s previous model and beat Google’s Gemini 2.5 from March, but it did not perform as strongly as Gemini 3.0 from November. The company had originally planned to release the model this month.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:34) **Welcome & Episode Overview** - Brian McCullough introduces the Friday, March 13th, 2026 episode, covering Meta's AI model delay, the social media addiction trial, video apps converging, and weekend long reads.
2 (01:03) **Meta's "Avocado" AI Model Delayed** - The New York Times reports Meta has delayed its new foundational AI model, codenamed Avocado, to at least May due to performance concerns.
3 (04:15) **Social Media Addiction Trial Winding Down** - Closing statements concluded in the bellwether trial against Meta and YouTube, with the plaintiff arguing social media addiction exacerbated her depression.
4 (06:44) **Streaming Apps Converge on Vertical Video** - Peacock and Disney Plus are both adding TikTok-like vertical video feeds to their mobile apps.
5 (11:53) **Weekend Long Read: The ATM Parable and AI** - A piece from David Ox, shared via Joel Morris's Substack, argues the comforting story that ATMs didn't kill bank teller jobs ignores that the iPhone eventually did, offering a lesson for AI.
6 (18:37) **Weekend Long Read: The James Mason Cat Painting Mystery** - A second long read recommendation from Joel Morris's Substack about a detective story involving a painting of actor James Mason holding a cat in a London pub.
7 Standout Quotes

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Meta’s big new AI model is delayed because they still can’t get to state of the art. The social media addiction trial is winding down. All the video apps are going to end up looking exactly like one another eventually. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Why ATMs didn’t kill bank teller jobs, but the iPhone did (David Oks's Blog)
James Mason in a cave with a cat (Joel Morris's Substack)

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