Meta’s Standalone AI Chatbot App: A New Era in Digital Assistance?

2025-03-06

Meta is meticulously preparing the stage for once another shift in the AI tech with its plans to launch a standalone app for its AI chatbot, Meta AI.

The decision to develop this type of product is associated with the company’s aggressive push to remain among the leaders in artificial intelligence, continuing direct competition with industry giants like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. The app, anticipated to debut in the second quarter of this year, is a clear sign of Meta’s ambition to widen its AI offerings beyond its existing social media platforms.

Meta AI – artistic impression. Image credit: Rawpixel via Freepik, free license

Expanding Reach Beyond Social Media

Since its initial rollout across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, Meta AI has been integrated as a core feature in these platforms. However, confining the AI assistant to Meta’s ecosystem limited its reach to users already embedded in its social networks. The new standalone app aims to break that barrier, making Meta AI accessible to a broader audience and potentially reshaping how consumers engage with AI services.

This strategic pivot coincides with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of making Meta AI the most widely used AI assistant globally. “This is going to be the year when a highly intelligent and personalized AI assistant reaches more than 1 billion people, and I expect Meta AI to be that leading AI assistant,” Zuckerberg stated during Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

Features and Capabilities of Meta AI

Meta AI is designed as a generative AI-powered assistant capable of answering questions, generating images, and providing personalized recommendations. The chatbot has recently been enhanced with memory capabilities, allowing it to deliver more tailored responses based on previous interactions.

The standalone app is expected to unify Meta AI across various devices, including Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, offering users a more consistent and personalized experience. Additionally, the app will likely feature tools for organizing conversational histories and deeper customization options, addressing user demands for more seamless and personalized AI interactions.

Heated Competition

Meta’s standalone AI app will enter a highly competitive market dominated by ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. By launching an independent app, Meta hopes to improve user engagement and better compete with rivals that have already established themselves as standalone services.

Despite boasting around 700 million monthly active users across its platforms, Meta AI’s standalone web traffic lags significantly behind ChatGPT and Gemini. Analysts believe that a dedicated mobile app could dramatically boost Meta AI’s adoption and position it as a stronger contender in the generative AI market.

Monetization Strategy and Subscription Plans

Alongside the launch of the app, Meta is exploring monetization opportunities similar to those employed by OpenAI and Microsoft. The company is reportedly planning to introduce a paid subscription service that grants access to more advanced features of Meta AI. Susan Li, Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, hinted at these plans during an earnings call, citing “pretty clear monetization opportunities” in the form of premium offerings and paid recommendations.

The app’s cross-platform capabilities may set a new standard for AI assistants, although if the lines between digital assistance and hardware integration will be shifted remains yet to be seen.

Conclusion: A Defining Year for Meta AI

Meta’s standalone AI chatbot app is a strong statement for the company’s AI engineering and software teams. With billions of potential users and a robust feature set, the app has lots of potential to become a sort of generative AI ‘standard’ go-to software for many users. However, its success will heavily depend on Meta’s ability to deliver a seamless, personalized user experience that outperforms existing competitors.

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Sources: TheVerge, CNBC

Written by Alius Noreika