After debuting late last year, OpenAI’s ChatGPT quickly became a hit with users who wanted to experience the wonders of AI. In the months after that, tech giants including Facebook parent Meta revealed their chatbots.
But that’s not all Meta has planned. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta is creating a product group that will integrate so-called generative AI into its various platforms and that it will be used to help create “personas” and “experiences. ”
“We’re creating a new top-level Meta product team focused on generative AI to turbocharge our work in this area,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “In the longer term, we will focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways.”
Zuckerberg gave vague examples of how generative AI technology will be deployed on Meta’s properties WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram, referring to experiences involving text, images, and video. He concluded the post by saying that there is a long way to go to get to “truly futuristic experiences.”
A Meta representative declined to offer any details.
The announcement may point to a broader Meta strategy as it continues to invest in the metaverse, a yet-to-be-realized virtual world, despite financial drain it created. The social media giant is trying to improve its presence in the virtual world, including through potential partnership with Chinese technology companies.
During an earnings call earlier this month, Zuckerberg spoke about his decision to incorporate AI into many areas of the business.
“We are focused on efficiency and continue to streamline the company as we can make these priorities,” Zuckerberg said during the call. He said that 2023 is “Year of Efficiency” through internal “flattening” and that managers and directors must become individual contributors or leave the company.
If Meta is serious about its AI, it will have to compete with other tech companies that are building rival capabilities. On the same day that Meta announced LLaMA, the name of the chatbot project, Snap says it will add a chatbot powered by OpenAI for its paying users.
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