Meta launches text-only AI assistant in the EU

Meta will launch its generative AI assistant, Meta AI, in the European Union this week. This comes more than a year after the service was first released in the United States in September 2023. The rollout will begin across 41 European countries. Meta AI is designed to provide text-only responses to user questions in the EU. In the US, it also generates images, but this feature will not be available in Europe. The assistant can use web search to find answers, which could help users explore topics or solve problems, such as planning trips. The introduction of Meta AI in Europe took longer due to complex regulations surrounding data use. Meta stated that their AI was not trained on data from EU users to comply with strict privacy laws. CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned challenges with inconsistent regulations in Europe, which delayed the rollout. Despite these hurdles, Meta has now successfully launched the AI across 41 countries in six languages. The company plans to invest heavily in AI technology, aiming to enhance its services and maintain leadership in the tech industry. Currently, Meta reports about 700 million active users for its AI assistant. However, this number is short of the one billion users Zuckerberg believes is necessary for a strong, sustainable advantage in the market.