Explained: Meta AI’s launch in India, its features, how to access it

Meta on Monday (June 24) announced the availability of its AI assistant “Meta AI” in India on WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and meta.ai portal.

"Meta AI, one of the world's leading AI assistants, now arrives in India on WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and meta.ai. And it's built with Meta Llama 3, our most advanced LLM to date," Meta said announcing the rollout in India in English.

"With our most powerful Large Language Model (LLM) under the hood, Meta AI is better than ever. We're excited to share our next-generation assistant with even more people and can't wait to see how it enhances people's lives," it said.

Who are Meta AI’s competitors in India?

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been dominating the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape in India since it was launched globally for the first time in November 2022. However, it now faces fresh competition with Google and Meta launching their chatbots in India within a week of each other.

Google launched its Gemini mobile app in India on June 18, 2024. Google rebranded its Bard AI chatbot as Gemini in February.

With Meta announcing the availability of Meta AI on WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and meta.ai portal, consumers in India now have three chatbots to choose from for their various needs.

How many languages will Meta AI be available in?

To begin with, in India, English will be the only language Meta AI will be available in.

On the other hand, Gemini is available on Google PlayStore in English and nine Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati.

How does one access Meta AI?

Users can use the AI assistant in their existing personal and group chats on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.

Meta AI has been integrated into the search bar of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. In addition, for Facebook users, the chatbot can be accessed while scrolling through the app’s main feed.

After the roll-out is complete, users will also be able to access the AI assistant through the Meta website, meta.ai.

What are its features?

Meta AI is a general-purpose assistant capable of answering questions and providing real-time information sourced from Google and Microsoft’s Bing search engines.

Just like the other AI assistants, Meta AI will help users with daily tasks like translations, writing emails, summarising texts, etc.

People can use Meta AI in feeds and chats across its apps to get things done, create content, and deep dive into topics, without having to leave the app they are using.

How to put it to use? 

From asking Meta AI in WhatsApp group chat for recommendations on restaurants, to seeking ideas on places to stop on a road trip, or even asking Meta AI on the web to create a multiple-choice test, Meta AI works in multiple ways for users.

"Moving into your first apartment? Ask Meta AI to 'imagine' the aesthetic you want so that you can create a mood board of AI-generated images for inspiration on your furniture shopping," the Meta announcement said citing examples.

Users can also access Meta AI when scrolling through Facebook feeds.

Anything else?

"Come across a post you're interested in? You can ask Meta AI for more info right from the post. So if you see a photo of the northern lights in Iceland, you can ask Meta AI what time of year is best to check out the aurora borealis," said Meta.

A distinguishing feature of Meta AI is its text-to-image generation, activated by using the word “imagine” while interacting with Meta AI directly or in a group chat. It can help users create and share images without much effort, like an invitation for a party.

The program can also be used to create animations by using new prompts, providing a myriad of possibilities for users to optimise their creative talent.

Where else is Meta AI available?

The chatbot has been launched in more than 12 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Singapore.