Saad Ullah
Meituan—best known for food delivery—just made a bold move into the AI big leagues. What makes this especially notable? It's open source under the MIT license, meaning developers worldwide can build with it freely. This isn't just another model drop—it's a signal that China's AI scene is moving fast and playing to win.
What Makes LongCat-Flash-Omni Special?
In a recent tweet, 青龍聖者 shared news that the company released LongCat-Flash-Omni, a multimodal AI model designed to compete head-to-head with Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro. LongCat-Flash-Omni builds on Meituan's earlier LongCat models, which used a Mixture-of-Experts architecture to balance massive scale with efficiency.
The new version takes things further with true multimodal capabilities—handling text, audio, and video all at once. Here's what stands out:
- 128K context window — double or even quadruple what most leading models offer, enabling much longer conversations and deeper memory
- Real-time audio and video processing — over eight minutes of seamless interaction, pushing toward "agentic AI" that can see, hear, and respond naturally
- Open-source under MIT license — giving developers, startups, and researchers free access to experiment, modify, and build on top of it
Early reports suggest the model runs fast (over 100 tokens per second) while staying stable during extended use. If those claims hold up, it puts Meituan in the same conversation as OpenAI's GPT-4o and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro.
Why This Matters
This release isn't just about one company flexing its tech muscles. It shows that cutting-edge AI innovation is no longer a Silicon Valley exclusive. Meituan is transforming from a consumer services platform into a serious AI powerhouse—and by going open source, it's inviting the world to join in. For developers, that means new tools for building smarter assistants, logistics systems, and education platforms. For China's AI ecosystem, it's a boost in global credibility and influence.
Meituan's LongCat-Flash-Omni is more than a model—it's a statement. With long-context understanding, real-time multimodal interaction, and open access, it challenges Western AI dominance and marks a new chapter in the international AI race. As the lines between models, media, and real-world interaction continue to blur, this could be the start of the next era in intelligent, open AI systems.
Saad Ullah
