Names, versions and owners change fast. Checked October 2026.
In plain words
Meta AI is an AI assistant, a chatbot you can ask questions, get ideas from or ask to make a picture. It is made by Meta, the company formerly called Facebook, and it lives inside the apps Meta already owns: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. It also has its own app and website.
You do not need to install anything new. In WhatsApp you can open a chat with Meta AI, or mention it inside a group to ask something. Meta launched it in September 2023 and brought it to India in June 2024.
The name is sometimes used loosely for all of Meta's AI work, which includes research labs and model families. The thinking inside the assistant is done by a large language model. That model has changed over time: early versions were built on Meta's Llama models, and later versions moved to newer ones.
Everyday example
A helper who joins your chats
Imagine your family WhatsApp group is planning a Diwali trip. Instead of leaving the chat to search trains and hotels, you call in a helper who already sits inside the app: "@Meta AI, three places near Pune for a weekend?" The helper replies right there in the thread. Meta AI is that built-in helper, present across Meta's apps.
Where the example breaks: A real helper remembers your family and checks facts. Meta AI predicts likely answers from patterns and can be wrong, so plans and facts still need checking.
Latestas of October 2026
- Model inside
- Muse Spark, from Meta Superintelligence Labs, announced 8 April 2026; it powers the Meta AI app and meta.ai and has been rolling out to Meta AI in WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Threads
- Newest models
- Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, for agent tasks, announced 12 October 2026 for developers
- New agent app
- Muse, a personal AI agent with its own app and a WhatsApp presence, launched 8 September 2026 in the US
- Open weights
- Muse Spark Open, a downloadable open-weight version, released 15 October 2026; the Muse Spark inside Meta AI and Muse Wonder are offered through Meta's apps and API
These details change often. The rest of this page explains what it is, which stays true.
How it actually works
Meta AI is a layer of products on top of models that Meta trains itself.
One assistant, many doors
The same assistant appears in Meta's messaging and social apps, in the standalone Meta AI app, on meta.ai and on Meta's smart glasses. It can answer questions, write messages and create images.
A model underneath
Your message goes to one of Meta's large language models, which writes the reply one token at a time. The first Meta AI used a custom model built with Llama 2 technology. Meta has since moved to newer model families.
From open to closed models
Meta's Llama models are open weights: anyone can download them. Its newer Muse models, made by a group called Meta Superintelligence Labs, first came only inside Meta's products and through an API. The box above shows which are downloadable now.
Research behind it
Meta has run an AI research lab, FAIR (Fundamental AI Research), since 2013. Its work on computer vision, translation and language models feeds into Meta's products.
- Made by
- Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger
- Launched
- 27 September 2023, in beta in WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram
- In India
- From June 2024, in English, across WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and meta.ai
- Standalone app
- Launched 29 April 2025, then built with Llama 4
Whatever you type to Meta AI is sent to Meta's servers so a model can answer it, so avoid sharing private details such as ID numbers or health information. See AI and privacy.
Questions people ask
Is Meta AI the same as Llama?
No. Meta AI is the assistant you chat with. Llama is a family of downloadable models from Meta. Meta AI was first built on Llama technology, but the assistant has since moved to newer Meta models.
How do I use Meta AI on WhatsApp?
Open WhatsApp and start a chat with Meta AI, then type a question as you would to a friend. In a group, you can mention Meta AI to ask something in the thread. Which features you get depends on your country and language.
Is Meta AI the same as ChatGPT?
Who makes Meta AI?
Meta, the American company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, and was itself called Facebook until it changed its name. Its AI research and model teams build the models the assistant runs on.