Meta has quietly released its AI-powered chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger in India, and various parts of Africa. The feature is slowly rolling out for both iOs and Android users. It might be possibly powered by Llama 2, or the upcoming Llama 3.

It is currently present on the top search bar in the WhatsApp UI. 

Funnily enough, Aravind Srinivas, the founder and CEO of Perplexity AI posted on X a screenshot of the chatbot which looks a lot like Perplexity’s UI design. “Honored and proud of our designers,” he said. 

Regardless, the integration operates separately from the privacy of private conversations on WhatsApp. What users type in the search bar remains confidential and is not shared with Meta AI unless users intentionally send a query to the Meta AI chatbot. 

The topics suggested by Meta AI through the search bar or conversation are randomly generated and do not use user-specific information. The search bar continues to function for its primary purpose, enabling users to find chats, messages, media, and contacts within the app. 

Users can still search their conversations for specific content without interacting with Meta AI, maintaining the same level of ease and privacy as before. Additionally, personal messages and calls remain end-to-end encrypted, ensuring neither WhatsApp nor Meta can access them, even with the Meta AI integration.

Meta is increasing its AI initiatives following progress made by major tech companies like OpenAI. Meta has begun piloting its AI chatbot in various markets, including the U.S., and is now extending the testing to India, its largest market with more than 500 million Facebook and WhatsApp users.

Last week, the company also confirmed that it would be releasing its next version of AI model, Llama 3 within this month.