The open launch of ChatGPT in November last year inaugurated a fast-paced race for generative artificial intelligence (AI). Meta had stayed out of that frenzy, faithful to its commitment to the metaverse, placating investors with small one-off announcements to show that it was not sleeping on that front. That truce ended last night. The company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced with great fanfare the birth of Meta AI, the conversational chatbot that will accompany users in group applications, such as WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger.
The tycoon showed in Meta Connect, the annual event in which the company presents its new products, some examples of use. In a WhatsApp group, the user can ask MetaAI as if they were another interlocutor which oriental restaurants are open today in the neighborhood. All group members will see the response and can interact with it. On Instagram, the user asks the assistant to surround a certain photo with puppies. MetaAI does it in an ultra-realistic way and in just a few seconds. “Meta AI is your basic assistant, you can talk to it like a person. I think it’s going to transform the way people use our products,” Zuckerberg said.
Meta’s immersion in generative AI comes somewhat later than that of the rest of the big technology companies, but it aims to be total. The giant is also preparing an application aimed at companies so that they can configure their own conversational assistants, in the style of ChatGPT, personalized with the appearance of celebrities (such as Snoop Dog or Paris Hilton). He also presented a tool to create stickers originals.
New glasses
The shift to AI has been partial. The company’s great strategic bet continues to be the metaverse. In section hardware, Zuckerberg presented two new devices. The Quest 3 mixed reality glasses, which will go on sale on October 10 for about 550 euros. They have a chip that doubles the computing power compared to the Quest 2. It also presents some improvements over the Quest Pro (1,200 euros), the high-end lenses, which remain the best on the market to date.
![Promotional image of the new Meta Quest 3 mixed reality glasses.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/qLgjXahX937SJFBB6M_2XmLFy0Y=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/FZB5AODZX5FX7FDQRY2KYOESJQ.jpeg)
For example, the jump from virtual reality (entirely digital) to mixed reality (combines normal vision with the incorporation of digital elements) is done by tapping the side of the glasses twice. The viewer also automatically scans the room in which the user is located and assumes the entire space as a field of action. With previous models, you had to define each time the boundaries of the terrain on which you wanted to move.
With respect to software, little change at the moment. The metaverse social network, Horizon Worlds, remains unevolved. Augmented and virtual reality will basically be used to play games and watch movies. Entertainment will continue to be the main hook to attract users, apart from certain professional groups related to design that may find it useful for modeling, for example.
![Mark Zuckerberg presents the new version of smart glasses developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban at Meta Connect.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/9kEe4hT2-EadAekUGn9zlnqcCis=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/GLM5JMX2JZF67K3QJXDNU77EFY.jpeg)
Meta has not given up on his intention to get people to wear his spy glasses. The third big novelty presented by the American magnate was another generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart lenses. They still look like harmless sunglasses, but now, in addition to recording images, taking photos and playing music, they are capable of broadcasting live videos. The Meta AI assistant will arrive “soon” to both the Quest 3 and the Ray-Ban.
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