Meta Unveils ChatGPT Rival

Meta is making its move in artificial intelligence with a new standalone app that blends AI with the familiar feel of social media in the company's bid to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. The app uses Meta's Llama 4 AI system and includes a "discover" feed allowing users to get a look into how others are interacting with artificial intelligence, the AP reports. Users can also link their Facebook and Instagram accounts for a personalized experience, and there is a voice mode that can be used to interact with the AI. Unlike many of its competitors, Meta has made its AI product free and open-source.

The company reports that more than a billion people use its AI products—which have already been integrated into its products WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger—each month, TechCrunch reports. The launch was announced during Meta's inaugural LlamaCon conference. There's already controversy: The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta's AI chatbots will engage in "romantic role-play," and that the newspaper's investigation revealed such chats could turn graphic and sexual even for users identified as underage. Sources say CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed the company to allow an exemption on its explicit content ban only in the cases of these role-play scenarios. The company denies the allegations.