- Meta AI chatbot is now available for some users WhatsApp users in India who have set their language to English.
- The feature was previously under testing within the U.S. but now seems to be rolling out to other countries.
- It is accessible by tapping on the blue circular button above the new chat icon on the chat page.
Meta has been working on developing its own AI language model similar to Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot. The company has been testing the integration of Meta AI in its products in the U.S. Now, it appears that the feature is rolling out to more regions as some Indian users are now receiving Meta AI on WhatsApp.
The feature adds a shortcut for Meta AI right above the chat icon as seen on the screenshot below. Users can tap on it to access the AI-powered chatbot. Doing so will take users to the Meta AI chat window. Here they can enter prompts to ask questions, search something online, or request it to generate images.
Meta AI is based on the Llama 2 generative text model, and leverages Meta’s Large Language Model research. It also utilizes Microsoft’s Bing to return accurate search results with links to its sources. This helps the chatbot to offer a smooth conversation with the user without any hiccups.
The feature was only available in the United States but now appears to be expanding to other regions. Siddhartha, our resident tech writer, received it on the stable version, but I did not, even after updating it to the latest version of WhatsApp Beta. I’m assuming it’s a server-side addition. To get this feature, you can try updating to the latest version of WhatsApp from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store.
Note that according to Meta, the results provided by the chatbot are not influenced by users’ chat history. WhatsApp chats remain end-to-end encrypted and continue to do so. The AI will not have access to them and any information provided is independent of that. However, your chats with Meta AI can be used for improvements and internal testing.
Having used Meta AI on WhatsApp was a bit of an awkward experience for me to be honest. I am happy that it will offer the power of AI to everyone given that there is still a vast chunk of people who are yet to experience the capabilities of generative AI. On the other end, it makes me concerned for my privacy. It is a hard pill to swallow to convince myself that Meta AI won’t go over my chats and history.
What are your thoughts about Meta AI’s introduction in WhatsApp and have you received it already? Let us know in the comments.
