Meta AI Launches in Europe After Year-Long Delay
Meta has commenced the rollout of its AI chatbot across Europe, nearly one year after initially pausing the launch in the region. Beginning this week, users in 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories will have access to Meta AI via WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. However, the functionality will be limited to text-based interactions for the time being.
Background of the Delay
The introduction of Meta AI in the United States occurred in early 2023, with plans to extend the service to Europe. However, the launch was delayed at the request of Ireland’s privacy authorities, who raised concerns regarding the training of the AI on content shared by users on Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, the deployment of the multimodal Llama AI model was halted in the European Union due to regulatory scrutiny.
Features of Meta AI in Europe
Currently, Meta AI will serve as a chatbot in Europe, enabling users to brainstorm ideas, plan trips, and answer queries utilizing web-based information. Users will also be able to discover specific content on their Instagram feeds through the AI. Notably, functionality such as image generation and photo-related inquiries will not be available, and the AI model has not been trained on data from EU users.
“This launch follows almost a year of intensive engagement with various European regulators and for now, we are only offering a text-only model in the region which wasn’t trained on first-party data from users in the EU,” said Ellie Heatrick, a spokesperson for Meta, in an interview with The Verge. “We will continue to work collaboratively with regulators so that people in Europe have access to and are properly served by Meta’s AI innovations that are already available to the rest of the world.”
Future Developments
In November 2022, Meta began integrating certain AI features into its Ray-Ban smart glasses available in Europe; however, these glasses do not currently support multimodal functionalities that allow users to inquire about visible objects. Despite the initial limitations, Meta plans to enhance its AI offerings in Europe, with intentions of aligning capabilities with those available in the United States over time.
