Meta launches its chatbot in Europe after all, having had to pause the rollout due to privacy regulators’ suspicions.
Meta finally launches its AI chatbot in Europe. Meta AI is being rolled out via WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in 41 European countries and six languages. The rollout was delayed for a year after it became clear that the company would use data from European users to train the model. Meta now states that the model in Europe only offers text-based functions and is not trained with European data.
Rollout Resumed
Meta AI was officially launched in the US in 2023. Initially, the company planned to bring the AI chatbot to Europe as well, but the Irish watchdog put a stop to this. Privacy regulators were concerned about the model when it became clear that Meta would use data from European users to train its models.
“This launch follows nearly a year of intensive collaboration with various European regulators, and for now, we are only offering a text model in the region that has not been trained on first-party data from users in the EU,” Meta spokesperson Ellie Heatrick tells The Verge. “We will continue to work with regulators to ensure people in Europe have access to and are well-served by Meta’s AI innovations that are already available to the rest of the world.”
Limited Functionalities
Meta AI can communicate in six European languages and is free to use via Meta’s social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The company also emphasizes that the chatbot can only read messages shared with the bot, and all personal messages remain end-to-end encrypted.
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Additionally, Meta states that its AI assistant will only function as a chatbot within Europe. With Meta AI, users will be able to brainstorm or ask specific questions. The chatbot then provides an answer based on information from the internet. What European users cannot do with the chatbot is generate and edit images, or ask questions about a photo.
Activating the AI Chatbot
Those who want to use Meta AI can access the chatbot via a new blue circle added as an icon to the applications. Clicking on this starts a conversation with Meta AI. In a group chat, it’s possible to activate the AI bot by typing ‘@Meta AI’. This currently only works in WhatsApp.