During his keynote speech at the Meta Connect conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta is introducing significant AI updates across its applications and devices, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. These updates aim to integrate state-of-the-art AI into the apps used by billions of people. The new AI experiences will include an advanced conversational assistant available on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, as well as on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest 3. Meta AI will provide real-time information through a search partnership with Microsoft Bing and introduce a tool for image generation using a new image model called Emu. Additionally, Meta has launched 28 beta AIs with unique interests and personalities, played by cultural icons and influencers such as Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner, and Naomi Osaka.
Meta has also introduced the AI Studio platform, allowing businesses to build AI chatbots for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. In the coming year, Meta plans to launch a sandbox tool that will enable anyone to experiment with creating their own AI. Furthermore, users will soon be able to edit and co-create images with friends on Instagram using new AI editing tools called restyle and backdrop. These tools, powered by Llama 2 and Meta’s image generation model, Emu, can turn text prompts into stickers within seconds. The rollout of this feature will initially be for select English-language users in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Stories.
Meta AI’s product launches are still in the early stages, and Zuckerberg acknowledged the limitations and the need for improvement as they receive more feedback from users. The AI-powered Meta smart glasses collection will be available for pre-order starting today, with a launch scheduled for October 17th, starting at $299 USD.