Meta adds Meta AI assistant across all its platforms as AI battle with OpenAI and Google intensifies

Meta is not being left behind by the AI train and it proved this with its latest move to integrate Meta AI – a free AI assistant – across all its social media platforms. The AI assistant, first September last year, is now available on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, and it marks the company's most significant foray into AI to date.

Powered by Meta's latest large language model, Meta Llama 3, Meta AI is capable of answering questions, creating animations, and generating images. It’s already being touted as a worthy contender to Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

This, however, has not prevented Meta from partnering with Google and Microsoft to integrate their search engine results into Meta AI.

"We believe that Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use," Zuckerberg stated in a video announcement.

Meta AI is built into the search box of the aforementioned social media apps, allowing users to easily access its features. Users can ask Meta AI for a variety of tasks, from restaurant recommendations to help with vacation planning or interior decoration ideas for a new apartment.

Additionally, Meta AI is accessible through the website "meta.ai," offering assistance with tasks like solving maths problems or drafting professional emails. Conversations with the assistant can be logged for future reference.

One of the standout features of Meta AI is its image-generation capability, which is currently available in beta on WhatsApp and the MetaAI website. As users type, Meta AI generates images and provides prompts to refine or change them. These images can also be animated into GIFs for easy sharing.

The beta version of Meta AI was first announced at Meta's Connect event in September. While it has only been available in the US to date, Meta AI is now being rolled out in English to over a dozen countries including Australia, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

It will be interesting to see how the AI assistant is received and if it will be the key to Meta finally reaching 3 billion daily users.