Last week, Meta AI officially entered the Indian market, with users identifying the generative artificial intelligence chatbot within the WhatsApp application. Additionally, the AI assistant has started appearing for select users on Instagram and Messenger, expanding its reach within the country. This chatbot, powered by the Llama architecture, is designed for diverse applications, enabling natural language interactions, answering queries, generating images, composing essays, and more. Within Instagram’s direct messaging feature, the chatbot can be located in the search bar as a blue icon accented with pink hues.
Access to this AI-powered chatbot seems to be restricted, with numerous users reporting that they do not have the feature available. A spokesperson for Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that the company is actively testing this new technology in India, as well as in certain regions of Africa. Their statement highlighted that “Our generative AI-powered experiences are under development in varying phases, and we’re testing a range of them publicly in a limited capacity.”
With Meta AI’s rollout, India gains access to a suite of leading AI chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude, and the Perplexity AI search engine. While Meta launched its chatbot in September 2023, it was initially accessible only in the U.S. and a few other areas, making its introduction in India noteworthy.
As a generalist chatbot, Meta AI is equipped to perform a variety of functions. Its image generation feature distinguishes it as only the second publicly available chatbot, after Copilot, capable of such tasks; Google’s Gemini does not currently offer this ability. In terms of text-based functionalities, Meta AI can answer questions, generate and translate text, summarize lengthy passages, write essays, analyze data, execute mathematical calculations, and assist with coding tasks. It connects to the Internet via Bing, allowing it to provide real-time information as well.
For image generation, Meta AI utilizes OpenAI’s DALL-E technology. Users can create images by typing a forward slash followed by the word “Imagine” and their desired prompt—such as “/imagine a sunflower garden and kids playing around it.” However, the chatbot is programmed not to fulfill requests for images of actual public figures. Furthermore, all images generated by Meta will carry a watermark stating “Imagined with Meta” to differentiate them from genuine photographs.
