After almost a year of waiting, Meta AI is rolling out in Europe

Meta is finally introducing its AI assistant, Meta AI, to 41 European countries and 21 regions outside of Europe, integrating it into apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. The rollout follows a year-long delay amidst regulatory concerns from Ireland’s data protection authority over training on user material and Meta’s Llama AI model.

To make Meta AI accessible to everyone, we’ll be rolling out Meta AI for free across Europe through the messaging apps people already know and love  – across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. To find it, just look for a new blue circle icon – tap on it to find out more and start exploring its potential. 

Currently, Meta AI’s offerings in Europe are limited to text-based chat functions, which assist people in brainstorming ideas, planning vacations, or answering questions using web-based information without accessing first-party data from EU consumers.

Looking ahead, it’s our ambition to make AI products available to more people around the world. We’ve continued to add new intelligent functions in the US – including personalisation and memory – as well as extended creative features such as AI Studio to more markets globally.

Meta hopes to collaborate with regulators to eventually offer more features in Europe, mirroring the US version. However, some are resistant to using AI integrated into the messaging platform as they find it invasive, and they’ve complained about being unable to disable the feature.

Despite such apprehensions, Meta also collaborates with European officials to adhere to local data protection laws, enhance user experience, and address privacy issues.