Meta Launches AI Assistant in India Across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram

Meta has announced the launch of its AI assistant, Meta AI, across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger in India. The AI-powered tool, built on Meta's Llama 3, aims to help users with tasks like planning, learning, creating content and connecting with others.

One of the key advantages of Meta AI is its seamless integration into Meta's popular apps, making it easily accessible to users on both Android and iOS devices as well as the web, according to Ryan Cairns, VP of Engineering at Meta.

"Our apps provide both the biggest distribution and the most availability to the end user," Cairns said, contrasting Meta AI with competitors like Google Assistant and Siri which are more platform-specific.

Meta AI can assist with a wide range of use cases that users in India have already experienced during the pilot, such as gathering information, learning, coding help, generating social media content like captions and Instagram threads, and even creating stylised brand logos.

The AI's "imagine" feature also enables users to generate and share unique images from text prompts and modify or animate them.

Addressing concerns about data privacy and potential misuse, Cairns stated that while using public information to train AI models is an industry-wide practice, building AI responsibly with a focus on safety is a top priority for Meta.

He noted that Meta AI's images are stylised rather than photorealistic to prevent deepfakes, and that the models are updated every two weeks based on user feedback to improve accuracy and prevent misinformation.

Meta AI is currently available in English in India, with no other language options at this time. The company has expressed excitement about introducing this next-generation AI assistant to a wider audience and its potential positive impact on people's daily lives.