Meta is drawing a clear line around its next wave of AI releases in Europe. The company plans to launch an upcoming multimodal Llama model in the coming months, but European customers will not get access for now.
What Meta is keeping out of the EU
According to a statement to Axios, Meta cited "the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment" as the reason for holding back its upcoming multimodal Llama model in the EU. Meta's AI assistant will also initially skip the EU release.
The decision does not apply to every Llama release. A text-based version of Meta's largest Llama 3 model, scheduled for release in late July, will still be available in the EU.
The bigger change concerns what comes next. Future Llama 4 models, although released under an open-source license, will not be usable by EU companies. Non-European services based on Llama may also not be available in the EU.
Why the multimodal model matters
Meta's upcoming multimodal models are designed to process video, audio, images, and text. That makes them different from text-only systems, because they can support product experiences that understand more kinds of input.
Meta aims to integrate these models into its products, including smartphones and Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses. If the models are not available in the EU, those products may either not be available there or may arrive with reduced functionality.
That makes the decision more than a developer access issue. It could shape what European users can do with Meta's future AI features, and it could limit how EU companies build on Llama-based systems.
The regulatory dispute behind the move
The decision intensifies Meta's conflict with EU privacy regulators. Regulators have banned the company from training on EU customer data without explicit opt-in.
Meta says it notified EU authorities of its plans months in advance and incorporated the minimal feedback it received. The company had previously launched a large-scale EU user data collection campaign using an opt-out system.
That earlier approach drew criticism because users could not directly opt out of AI training with their data. Instead, they had to use a complicated form. Privacy advocates at Noyb criticized this approach, among other issues, and EU regulators heeded their concerns.
A Meta spokesperson told Axios that training on European data is crucial to ensure that products reflect regional terminology and culture. Meta also pointed to competitors like OpenAI and Google, saying they train on European user data as well.
The source article notes an important distinction: that practice has not been explicitly approved by users or regulators. That is the tension at the center of the dispute. Meta wants regional data to improve regional products, while EU regulators are pressing for explicit user approval.
A broader pressure campaign around AI rules
Meta's decision follows Apple's recent announcement that it would not offer Apple Intelligence features in the EU due to regulatory concerns. Together, the moves show how major U.S. technology companies are responding to EU rules by delaying or withholding AI features.
Both companies seem to believe that withholding their technology is an effective way of pressuring the EU to alter regulations in their favor. The source article points to one key weakness in Europe's position: the lack of competitive alternatives within the EU.
That creates a difficult situation for European customers, companies, and regulators. If leading AI systems are unavailable or limited, users may lose access to features that are available elsewhere. At the same time, regulators are trying to enforce clearer limits on how customer data is used for AI training.
What to watch next
The immediate outcome is straightforward: Meta's upcoming multimodal Llama model and future AI models will not launch for European customers for now. The text-based version of Meta's largest Llama 3 model remains an exception and is still scheduled for release in late July.
The larger question is whether Meta and EU regulators can resolve the dispute over AI training data. Until then, future Llama models, Meta's AI assistant, and some Llama-based services may remain unavailable or limited in the EU.