Meta Launches Standalone AI App to Compete With ChatGPT — Powered by Llama Open-Source Model

Meta has taken a major step into the AI space by introducing its first standalone Meta AI assistant app, offering a direct experience with its generative AI technology — and taking clear aim at rivals like ChatGPT.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, introduced the app via Instagram, saying,

“A billion people are using Meta AI across our apps now, so we made a new standalone Meta AI app for you to check out.”

The newly launched app is tailored to function as a personal AI assistant, primarily accessed through voice interactions. These experiences are intended to be tailored to each user’s preferences and activity.

“We’re starting off really basic, with just a little bit of context about your interests,” Zuckerberg explained.
“But over time, you’re going be able to let Meta AI know a whole lot about you and the people you care about from across our apps, if you want.”

The app also taps into Meta's social media legacy by incorporating a unique AI-generated content feed, allowing users to see what others are creating and sharing using AI tools.

“We learn from seeing each other do it, so we put this right in the app,” said Chris Cox, Meta’s Chief Product Officer, during Meta’s LlamaCon developer conference.
“You can share your prompts. You can share your art. It’s super fun.”

The application is now also the companion app for Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, replacing the previous Meta View app. This enables seamless communication between devices, whether through smart glasses, smartphone, or desktop.

“We were very focused on the voice experience; the most natural possible interface,” Cox noted.

Meta’s new AI tool also includes an experimental mode designed to mimic human conversation, including more natural dialogue flow with pauses, interruptions, and laughter.

“You can hear interruptions and laughter and an actual dialog – just like a phone call,” Cox shared.

However, this mode currently lacks real-time internet browsing capabilities.

“The feature isn’t able to search the web, so asking about topics such as sports teams or the Papal conclave was off the table for now,” Cox explained.

For those concerned about personalization, Meta is introducing optional memory-based personalization, where the AI assistant can learn from users’ activity on Instagram and Facebook.

“It will also remember things you tell it like your kids’ names; your wife’s birthday, and other things you want to make sure your assistant doesn’t forget,” said Cox.

The announcement comes as OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to dominate user-focused AI, offering frequent feature updates. Meta is countering with Llama, its own open-source AI model, which was spotlighted during LlamaCon.

Zuckerberg emphasized the freedom developers have with Llama:

“Part of the value around open source is that you can mix and match,” he said.
“You have the ability to take the best parts of the intelligence from the different models and produce exactly what you need, which I think is going to be very powerful.”

Unlike OpenAI’s closed system, Meta’s open-source approach aims to attract developers who want more flexibility and transparency.