Tag: messenger

Meta AI Shows Up for Some Instagram and Messenger Users in India: What It Can Do

Meta AI made its debut in India last week when some users spotted the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot appearing on the WhatsApp app. Now, Meta AI has also started showing up for some Instagram and Messenger users in the country as well. The Llama-powered chat assistant is a general capability chatbot and is capable of natural language conversations, answering questions, generating images, writing essays, and more. The Meta AI chatbot can be found in Instagram DM in the search bar as a blue ring with pink hues.

The access to the AI-powered chatbot appears to be limited with multiple users reporting not seeing the feature. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the company was testing the new feature in India and parts of Africa. The statement read, “Our generative AI-powered experiences are under development in varying phases, and we’re testing a range of them publicly in a limited capacity.”

With this move, India now has access to all the major AI chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude, Perplexity AI search engine, and the Meta AI. The social media giant launched the chatbot in September 2023 but its availability was limited to the US and a few more regions. The AI assistant could not be accessed in India before this.

Since Meta AI is a generalist chatbot, it can perform a wide range of tasks. In addition, it can also generate images, a capability that makes it only the second publicly available chatbot after Copilot to do so, currently (Google has restricted Gemini’s ability to generate images). Focusing on the text-only features, Meta AI can answer questions, generate text, translate text, summarise large blocks of text, write essays, analyse data, perform mathematical calculations, and even assist with coding-related tasks. The AI chatbot is connected to the Internet via Bing, so it can provide real-time information as well.

Meta AI can also generate images which is powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E. To generate an image, you need to type the forward slash and write “Imagine” followed by the desired prompt. For example, you can write “/imagine a sunflower garden and kids playing around it”. However, do note that the chatbot does not fulfil any requests for images of real-life personalities. Further, all Meta-generated images will have an “Imagined with Meta” watermark to distinguish it from real images.

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Meta Allows EU Users to Access Instagram, Facebook, Messenger Separately to Comply With Regulations

Facebook parent Meta will allow users in the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland to prevent information from being shared across the company’s apps. As a result, people who live in these regions will be able to use Instagram and Facebook separately, even if they are connected on the platform. Meanwhile, Meta will also allow users to create a Messenger account that is not linked to their Facebook account while changing how messaging on the company’s Marketplace platform works.

In a detailed post explaining the changes being made to comply with regulations — the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) — that Meta and other firms must comply with, the company says that users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who have already linked their Facebook and Instagram accounts can continue to operate these accounts, or unlink their accounts “so that their information is no longer used across accounts”.

Meta’s announcement comes a month after Instagram-Messenger cross app chats were shut down. Three years after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta would allow users to chat across its services, the company limited messaging to each platform. It also turned on support for end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) chats on Messenger in December.

Meanwhile, the company is also changing how users in these regions can use Messenger — while you can continue to chat using your Facebook account, Meta will also let you sign up for a new Messenger account that operates independently of your existing account. You’ll be able to send messages and call your contacts, but some features won’t work as expected.

For example, Messenger features for Marketplace that allow sellers to chat with buyers will be replaced with an option to use email, if their accounts are unlinked. Similarly, users who unlink their accounts from Facebook Gaming won’t have access to multiplayer features and targeted recommendations, according to the company.

Just like Meta’s optional ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram that was introduced two months ago, these changes will only be available to users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland. The company could also bring the same functionality to other regions if legislation similar to the DMA is passed, allowing users in more countries to operate their accounts independently.

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Facebook Messenger Turns End-to-End Encryption on by Default for Individual Chats

Facebook Messenger is finally rolling out support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) by default for individual chats and calls, the company announced on Wednesday. In the coming weeks and months, Facebook parent Meta says existing conversations will be protected by E2EE and new chats will also be protected by the technology. The company says that E2EE Messenger chats will offer the same features as previously unencrypted conversations including the ability to unsend messages, set chat themes, and send custom message reactions.

In a post detailing the launch of the new features, Messenger head Loredana Crisan said that both one-on-one chats and calls on the messaging app will now be protected by end-to-end encryption. Meta collaborated with experts and governments, academics and advocates to ensure a balance of privacy and safety, according to Crisan.

Just like WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, chats on Messenger can no longer be accessed by the company — with one exception. Meta will be able to see the contents of E2EE messages when a conversation participant reports the contents of a conversation — WhatsApp offers the same reporting mechanism.

In January 2022, Meta updated Secret Conversations — its opt-in E2EE chats feature on Messenger — with support for features that are available on regular chats. These include the ability to send GIFs and stickers in chats. Users can also set chat themes in secret conversations. Enabling the 24-hour disappearing message mode in E2EE chats will also alert users when another participant takes a screenshot, according to Meta.

Messenger’s E2EE chats have been updated with support for features found on regular chats
Photo Credit: Meta

Meta has been working on enabling encrypted chats by default for years now, and the first indication of the company’s efforts was revealed years ago when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the firm was adding support for default E2EE chats for both Instagram and Messenger.

The company says that it has implemented the Signal Protocol (used on Signal, widely considered the gold standard in encrypted messaging apps) and the firm’s own Labyrinth Protocol.

However, not all users will see their conversations upgraded to E2EE chats immediately. Crisan notes that “it may take some time for Messenger chats to be updated with default end-to-end encryption”, which suggests that the rollout could take a considerable amount of time.

It is worth noting that features like optional E2EE encryption for chats on Instagram are yet to roll out to users in some regions, including India. Gadgets 360 has reached out to the company for details of the rollout to users in the country. Meta is expected to enable E2EE chats by default on Instagram once the Messenger rollout is complete.

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Meta Brings Standalone Text-to-Image Generation Tool to Web; AI Enhancements to Instagram, Facebook

Meta unveiled a host of new enhancements for its AI experiences across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp on Wednesday. The company’s virtual assistant, Meta AI, which was launched in September, will now give more detailed and accurate responses to queries. The Facebook parent is also expanding its text-to-image generation tool, Imagine, as a standalone AI experience on Web, outside of chats.

In its Newsroom post announcing new AI updates, Meta detailed a standalone Imagine tool for image generation. Initially only embedded within Meta’s messaging platforms, Imagine can now be accessed on the Web for free. “Today, we’re expanding access to imagine outside of chats, making it available in the US to start at imagine.meta.com,” Meta said in the blog. The image creation tool runs on the company’s image foundation model, Emu. The tool will initially be available in the US.

Imagine with Meta is free to use on the Web
Photo Credit: Meta

Meta is also bringing new updates and capabilities to core AI experiences on its platforms. The Meta AI virtual assistant is now more helpful, the company claims, generating more detailed responses on mobile and more accurate summaries of search results. “We’ve even made it so you’re more likely to get a helpful response to a wider range of requests,” the blog said. A Meta AI interaction can be triggered by starting a new message and selecting “Create an AI chat” on Meta’s messaging platforms, or by typing “@MetaAI” in a group chat followed by the query.

Outside of chats, Meta AI’s large language model will bring new experiences on Facebook and Instagram like options for AI-generated post comment suggestions, community chat topic suggestions in groups and more.

Imagine with Meta, the text-to-image generation tool, is also getting a new ‘reimagine’ feature on Messenger and Instagram that lets your friends riff on a Meta AI-generated image shared by you in messages and create entirely new images. Additionally, the company is also rolling out Instagram Reels in Meta AI chats, wherein the AI assistant will recommend and share reels for relevant video requests. AI-powered improvements are coming to Facebook, too. Meta is working on AI features that would draft birthday greetings, edit feed posts, write up a dating profile, or set up a new group.

Meta will also roll out invisible watermarking to its new Imagine with Meta AI image generation tool to boost AI transparency and curb misleading AI-generated content in the coming weeks. “The invisible watermark is applied with a deep learning model. While it’s imperceptible to the human eye, the invisible watermark can be detected with a corresponding model,” the blog said. The watermark will withstand image manipulation like cropping, editing or screenshotting.

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WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger to Get AI Assistants; Meta Shows Off Image Generation Tool Emu

Meta showcased a host of new products and services, including the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset and a pair of smart glasses made in collaboration with Ray-Ban, at its Meta Connect annual conference on Wednesday. Alongside the hardware, the company also announced its own AI assistant, Meta AI, and a variety of AI experiences across Meta’s suite of apps and devices, including AI stickers in Meta apps and AI editing tools for Instagram. Meta AI, a conversational generative AI assistant much like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Bing, will be available on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.

Meta AI will be powered by the company’s custom model that borrows from Meta’s large language model, Llama 2. The AI assistant, Meta said, will provide real-time information in response to text-based queries, trawling the internet via Bing search. Meta AI will also generate images based on text prompts. The AI assistant can help plan hiking trips with your friends in a group chat, prepare recipes, or help with your shopping list. Users can type in “@MetaAI /imagine” inside their chat box and follow it up with descriptive text prompts for what they want the AI assistant to do. Meta AI is also coming to the company’s latest devices, the Meta Quest 3 and the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

In addition to its default AI assistant, the company also showed off AI avatars with distinct personalities. Meta is bringing 28 AI characters, each with a unique backstory and behaviour. These AI characters can be conversed with in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, and will also include some public figures and influencers that Meta has partnered up with for their likenesses. Famous people coming as AI characters include Dwayne Wade, Kendall Jenner, Mr. Beast, Snoop Dogg and more.

Emu can generate stickers based on user prompts
Photo Credit: Meta

Meta is calling its image generation tool ‘expressive media universe’, or Emu. The tool can also quickly generate AI stickers based on a user’s text prompts inside apps like WhatsApp or Instagram to share with friends. “It’s high-quality, photorealistic,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the presentation. “But, one of the coolest things is the Emu generates that fast. It’s not a minute. It takes five seconds to generate one of these,” he added. This custom sticker generation feature will roll out to select English-language users over the next month in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Stories.

The Facebook parent is also bringing new AI-powered image editing tools, specifically two new features — Restyle and Backdrop — that utilise technology from the Emu tool. Restyle acts as a kind of custom filter that works based on user prompts. Based on single descriptor or a more detail prompt, Restyle will edit your images to reflect a particular mood. And as the name suggests, Backdrop will let users change the background of their images based on custom prompts. Images created using both tools will carry markers that indicate the image is AI-generated. Meta said that Restyle and Backdrop were coming soon to Instagram but did not provide a concrete release date for the same.

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Meta Urged Not to Roll Out End-to-end Encryption on Messenger, Instagram by UK

Britain urged Meta not to roll out end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Facebook Messenger without safety measures to protect children from sexual abuse after the Online Safety Bill was passed by parliament.

Meta, which already encrypts messages on WhatsApp, plans to implement end-to-end encryption across Messenger and Instagram direct messages, saying the technology re-enforced safety and security.

Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she supported strong encryption for online users but it could not come at the expense of children’s safety.

“Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers,” she said. “They must develop appropriate safeguards to sit alongside their plans for end-to-end encryption.”

A Meta spokesperson said: “The overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals.

“We don’t think people want us reading their private messages so have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse while maintaining online security.”

It said it would update on Wednesday on the measures it was taking, such as restricting people over 19 from messaging teens who do not follow them and using technology to identify and take action against malicious behaviour.

“As we roll out end-to-end encryption, we expect to continue providing more reports to law enforcement than our peers due to our industry leading work on keeping people safe,” the spokesperson said. 

Social media platforms will face tougher requirements to protect children from accessing harmful content when the Online Safety Bill passed by Parliament on Tuesday becomes law.

End-to-end encryption is a bone of contention between companies and the government in the new law.

Messaging platforms led by WhatsApp oppose a provision that they say could force them to break end-to-end encryption.

The government, however, has said the bill does not ban the technology, but instead, it requires companies to take action to stop child abuse and as a last resort develop technology to scan encrypted messages.

Tech companies have said scanning messages and end-to-end encryption are fundamentally incompatible.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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WhatsApp Bitmoji-Style Avatars Reportedly Rolling Out to Some Beta Testers: All Details

Meta is gearing to deploy its signature Bitmoji-like avatars to its instant messaging app, WhatsApp. The feature will first reach a bunch of randomly selected beta testers on Android as part of its upcoming 2.22.23.9 app upgrade, as per a report. A new category called ‘Avatar’ is said to appear inside the app on the settings menu. Users will reportedly be able to customise their avatars on WhatsApp and they would make for a bunch of auto-generated stickers. Sooner than later, these avatars are expected to be rolled out to a wider userbase for WhatsApp in the coming days.

WABetaInfo feature tracker, along with some more beta users of the app have spotted the avatar feature on WhatsApp.

Meta, formerly Facebook, first introduced avatars on Messenger and the News Feed in 2019. A year later in 2020, these digital avatars also paved way to be used in Facebook comments and stories.

As part of Meta’s Web3 twist, the social networking giant has given a rather 3-D twist to its avatars before releasing them on Instagram. At the time, Aigerim Shorman, Meta’s general manager for avatars and identity, had called the introduction of these avatars Meta’s efforts toward building out its idea of the metaverse.

Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s attempts of adding metaverse-focussed features in its products, Meta’s metaverse division reported losses of a whopping $2.81 billion (roughly Rs. 22,410 crore) in the second quarter of 2022. Despite the financial dip however, Meta wishes to continue working on its metaverse services. For now, it remains unclear by when would WhatsApp bring the avatar feature to all of its users.

Meanwhile, the photo-messaging app has lined-up other features also that are scheduled for release in the coming days. Last week, for instance, WhatsApp began rolling-out the ability of editing messages on its platform. When the feature rolls out, WhatsApp would give users 15 minutes to edit the messages.

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Meta Quest Users Will No Longer Require Facebook Account to Login: All Details

Meta is launching a new account login system for its Quest VR headsets that don’t require logging in with a Facebook account. The users instead will need a new Meta account, which does not need to be linked to Facebook. Meta will start rolling out this new account login system in the month of August, the company has confirmed. However, the company also has said that the ones who are new to Meta VR devices or have previously merged their Oculus account with a Facebook account, will need to create a a new Meta account and Meta Horizon profile.

As announced by Meta, the company is launching a new account login system for its Quest VR headsets that don’t require logging in with a Facebook account. This system will be rolled out to users in the next month. This new login system indicates that those Meta Quest users who have merged their Oculus and Facebook accounts, will now need to create a new Meta account and Meta Horizon profile to use the headset. And those who have been logging into their VR device with their Oculus account can keep using their headset until January 1, 2023.

The company, on the occasion, explained that “Your Meta account is not a social media profile; it lets you log into your VR devices and view and manage your purchased apps in one place. In the future, we’ll extend Meta account functionality so you can use it to log into other Meta devices.”

Meta also notes that the Quest headset users also have an option to add their Meta account to the same accounts centre as their Facebook or Instagram account so they will be able to chat with friends in the VR version of Messenger.

Moreover, while creating a new Meta account, the Quest users will be prompted to create a Meta Horizon profile, with a username, avatar, profile photo, and so on, as per the company.

Meta claims that this new account also offers privacy controls, including varied privacy options in the settings, which comprises of – Open to Everyone, Friends and Family, and Solo accounts. After selecting this, users will get an option to review and confirm their individual privacy settings are set the way they want them.

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