Meta Platforms, Snap Expand Artificial Intelligence Offerings

Meta Platforms and Snapchat are pushing deeper into the artificial intelligence (AI) business with new AI products, following OpenAI’s viral success with ChatGPT.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that Meta will create a new product group focused on generative AI, which will allow computers to generate text, draw pictures, and create other media that resemble human output. The new AI technologies will be applied to Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

The move comes just days after Zuckerberg announced a new AI model called “LLaMA” designed to help researchers make chatbots less “toxic.” Meta said its new model can help researchers improve and fix AI tools that promote misinformation.

Snap Launches “My AI” Chatbot

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, also announced it is launching its own ChatGPT-powered chatbot called “My AI” starting this week. According to Snap, My AI is trained with a “unique tone and personality” and to avoid bias. 

Snapchat users will have access to its new conversational chatbot, which can write haikus, plan a hiking trip, and recommend birthday gifts. At the moment, the feature will only be available to paying Snapchat+ subscribers. 

The move comes as Snap struggles to hold on to users. Snap expected 375.3 million global daily active users last quarter but only recorded 373 million. 

Shares of Snap (SNAP) are up 3% in early trading Tuesday. Shares are up 12% so far this year, but down 75% over the past year. Shares of Meta (META) are rising 4% and are up over 45% so far this year, but down 16% over the past year.