The brilliance of Meta's strategy here is: if they offer a (F?)OSS model at near-performance compared to leaders, they commoditize the product of their would-be competitors. Meta doesn't have to make money on API calls, but they could face an existential risk if someone else built the everyday AI companion of the future (e.g. users on ChatGPT UI, microsfoft's much advertised "copilot for everyday").

So -- a defensive play with some positive externalities (e.g. developer ecosystem mindshare + roadmap control, ability to use within their own products at cost, without giving up margin to suppliers).