Meta Unveils AI Assistant and Facebook-Streaming Glasses, Reports Reuters

By Katie Paul and Anna Tong

MENLO PARK, California – Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg recently unveiled a series of innovative AI products aimed at consumers. These offerings include bots that can generate photo-realistic images, smart glasses equipped to answer questions, and an updated virtual-reality headset.

Zuckerberg highlighted the integration of the virtual and real worlds, emphasizing Meta’s commitment to providing affordable or free AI solutions that seamlessly fit into everyday life. The company’s Quest headset has become the leading product in the emerging VR market, positioning itself as the best value amidst the anticipated launch of a higher-priced headset from a major competitor.

During the Meta Connect conference, which marked the company’s first in-person event since the pandemic, Zuckerberg announced that a new generation of Ray-Ban smart glasses would be available starting October 17 for $299. These glasses will feature a new Meta AI assistant and capabilities for live streaming experiences directly to social platforms, enhancing the functionality of previous models that primarily focused on photography.

He also revealed that the latest Quest mixed-reality headset would begin shipping on October 10 and introduced the company’s initial generative AI products, including a chatbot known as Meta AI capable of generating text responses and photo-realistic visuals.

Zuckerberg remarked, “Innovation can come from creating something unprecedented or transforming expensive technologies into more accessible options for everyone.”

Meta AI will serve as an assistant integrated into the smart glasses, initially rolled out in the United States. A forthcoming software update will enable the assistant to recognize locations and objects viewed by the user, as well as facilitate language translation.

The development of Meta AI is based on a custom model formed from Llama 2, a large language model the company made available for public commercial use earlier this year. The chatbot will also obtain real-time information through a partnership with a prominent search engine.

In a conversation with reporters, Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg indicated that the company had implemented measures to exclude private information from the dataset used for training the model. Restrictions will also be in place to prevent the generation of lifelike images of public figures.

Meta is further creating a platform for developers and everyday users to build custom AI bots, which will have profiles across social media and eventually represent avatars in the metaverse. To showcase this tool’s possibilities, Meta introduced 28 chatbots featuring distinct personalities inspired by celebrities.

The features seem to focus on enhancing existing applications and devices rather than developing new advertising strategies or revenue streams. Analysts suggest that immediate monetization of these AI products may be unlikely, with Meta more interested in fostering a developer ecosystem.

In addition to these innovations, Zuckerberg announced that Xbox cloud gaming will be available on the Quest platform from December.

Meta had previously announced the Quest 3 headset during the summer, coinciding with the launch of a high-end competitor device. Priced from $500, the Quest 3 incorporates the same mixed-reality technology that was first seen in Meta’s more expensive Quest Pro model.

The announcements reflect Zuckerberg’s strategy to pivot towards artificial intelligence amid evolving investor interest, moving away from augmented and virtual reality technologies.

The stakes were high for this event, as the parent company of Facebook and Instagram faced criticism last year for extensive investments in the metaverse, leading to significant layoffs to support the vision. Developers are keen to explore potential applications for the new hardware, while investors are on alert for indications of whether a bold strategy could justify the more than $40 billion in losses since 2021.