Meta Ai, the generative artificial intelligence assistant (AI) of the American giant Meta, is gradually offered in the European Union, more than a year after its release in the United States, from Thursday, March 20 on all its applications: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. “It took us more time than expected to deploy our AI technology in Europe, because we continue to navigate a complex European regulatory system but we are happy to finally have reached it,” the company said in a press release.
Unveiled in the United States in September 2023 and then generalized in April 2024 on all of the group’s applications, Meta AI is a generative AI tool that answers users’ questions by generating texts and images, such as Chatgpt from its competitor OPENAI. He also has access to internet search engines. It thus makes it possible to “deepen news subjects or get help for a tutorial” but can also help plan a trip.
A “fragmented” European regulatory framework
Meta had so far suspended its deployment in the EU, claiming to lack visibility as to the interpretation by the European authorities of the various laws which supervise new technologies, such as the General Data Protection Regulations (RGPD) and those on digital markets and on AI. His CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had castigated in a column last summer, co-signed with the CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek, a European regulatory framework “fragmented” to “inconsistent implementation” which “braked innovation and developers”.
After many negotiations with regulators, Meta finally offers European consumers an interface centered on the generation of text, without image unlike the versions available in the United States and in non-European countries. Another important point: Meta AI, which will be available in six languages, has not been trained on European user data.
700 million active users
Meta intends to deploy her assistant in 41 European countries, including France and Germany, as well as 21 European overseas territories, gradually in the coming weeks. Like the other Silicon Valley giants, he made AI a priority and plans to invest between 60 and 65 billion dollars this year, largely in data centers, servers and network infrastructure, essential to the development of this technology.
“I expect that an AI assistant exceeds one billion users this year and, for me, it will be Meta AI,” said Mark Zuckerberg when presenting his company’s annual results in late January. “Once a service reaches this scale,” he added, “he generally acquires a lasting advance”. Meta currently claims 700 million active users per month for its assistant, which should become a full-fledged application in the United States, according to several American media, in order to directly compete with Chatgpt, Gemini de Google or Claude d’Anthropic.