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Last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg insisted that selling access to the company’s Llama AI models wasn’t part of their business model. However, a newly unredacted court filing suggests otherwise.
The document, submitted in the copyright lawsuit Kadrey v. It, reveals that It has revenue-sharing agreements with companies that host its Llama models. In other words, when these companies generate revenue from users of the Llama models, It gets a cut.
Who’s Paying Meta?
The filing doesn’t specify which hosting companies pay It, but the tech giant has previously named several partners, including AWS, Nvidia, Databricks, Groq, Dell, Azure, Google Cloud, and Snowflake.
While developers can download and run Llama models independently, many prefer to use host services because they offer additional tools and support, making the process easier.
Zuckerberg Hinted at This Move Before
Zuckerberg had already alluded to this strategy during an earnings call last April. At the time, he suggested that It could monetize Llama through licensing, business messaging services, and even AI-driven ads. He didn’t provide details, but he did hint at revenue-sharing agreements.
“If you’re someone like Microsoft, Amazon, or Google and you’re reselling these services, we think we should get a portion of the revenue,” Zuckerberg said. “We’ve started doing that a little bit.”
More recently, he downplayed direct monetization, saying that It biggest gain from Llama comes from improvements made by the AI research community. The company integrates Llama models into various products, including It AI, its virtual assistant.
The Lawsuit and What’s at Stake
The revelation that It is profiting from Llama is significant because the plaintiffs in Kadrey v. It claim the company used pirated e-books to train its AI models. They also accuse Meta of “seeding” these books—essentially sharing them through torrenting—while acquiring the training data.
The lawsuit comes at a time when It is making massive AI investments. In 2025, the company plans to spend between $60 billion and $80 billion—double its 2024 capital expenditures—on data centers and AI development.
To help cover those costs, Meta is reportedly exploring a paid subscription for It AI that would unlock extra features.
Updated 3/21 at 1:54 p.m.: A It spokesperson directed TechCrunch to an earnings call transcript for more context. We’ve added a quote from Zuckerberg confirming that It intends to revenue-share with large Llama model hosts.
