- Mexico excludes Spanish king from president's swearing-in
- Bus hijacking leaves one dead in Los Angeles
- UN chief raises alarm over Sudan 'escalation' to army leader
- CONCACAF chooses West Coast venues for Gold Cup
- Ohtani 50-50 home run ball up for auction
- Trump accuses Zelensky of refusing to strike a deal on war
- Putin proposes broader criteria for using nuclear arms
- France's Ubisoft pushes back new 'Assassin's Creed' game to February
- Paris fashion: The Dries dream lives on without Van Noten
- Meta unveils star-studded AI assistants
- DRC leader calls for sanctions on Rwanda over rebel support
- Mud, loss and despair after Polish floods
- England skipper Stokes on track for Pakistan tour
- UN chief warns of 'rising tide of misery' from swelling seas
- Russian strikes on eastern Ukraine city kill two, wound 19
- Biden warns 'all-out war' possible in Middle East
- Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
- Six hurt in Ecuador as firefighters battle blazes choking capital
- Florida girds for arrival of Helene as powerful hurricane
- German prosecutors charge three in Schumacher blackmail case
- Restoring nature, 'adaptation' helped limit Storm Boris impact
- Son says Spurs team-mate Bentancur 'almost cried' over alleged racial slur
- Harris and Trump target economy in close US election battle
- Zelensky alleges Russia plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
- 'Worst crisis': German Greens leaders quit after election losses
- Israel puts troops on alert for entry into Lebanon
- 'The UN has betrayed us': Israeli ambassador
- US new home sales slow slightly in August
- UN chief says sea level rise threatens 'rising tide of misery'
- US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
- Zelensky says Russia planning attacks on Ukraine nuclear plants
- Film legend Bardot, nearing 90, enjoys her 'silent solitude'
- Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator
- Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services
- Finnish zoo to return pandas to China early
- At last! China's Zhang Shuai ends 24-match losing streak
- Jacks says new-look England need time to master ODIs
- Madrid's Mbappe suffers thigh injury before Atletico derby
- Russian MPs back adoption ban on countries allowing gender reassignment
- France minister vows new immigration 'rules' after student murder
- EU states back plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Unions vow 'bitter resistance' as Volkswagen talks begin
- Lady Gaga plants lipstick smile on 'Mona Lisa' in Louvre clip
- Man City confirm Rodri knee ligament injury
- Hezbollah's Fadi rockets: More power, little precision
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after teaming up with Mouratoglou
- New Zealand flanker 'Braveheart' Sititi relishes his 'crazy' rise
- OECD calls for higher property taxes to fight debt
- Environmentalists smear Finland's parliament in red paint
- World Cup winner Varane retires
CMSC | -0.04% | 25.09 | $ | |
JRI | -0.22% | 13.39 | $ | |
NGG | -0.01% | 70.1 | $ | |
BCC | -2.69% | 138.07 | $ | |
GSK | -1.04% | 40.56 | $ | |
BTI | -0.37% | 37.96 | $ | |
SCS | -1.86% | 12.88 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 7.07 | $ | |
RIO | 0.37% | 67.67 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.04% | 59.48 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.22% | 25.065 | $ | |
BCE | -0.66% | 34.9 | $ | |
BP | -3.63% | 31.68 | $ | |
RELX | -0.33% | 48.37 | $ | |
VOD | -0.3% | 10.06 | $ | |
AZN | 0.86% | 77.54 | $ |
Meta unveils star-studded AI assistants
Meta launched AI chatbots voiced by Hollywood celebrities like John Cena and Judi Dench on Wednesday, betting that its billions of users are eager to embrace artificial intelligence.
"I think that voice has the potential to be one of, if not the most frequent ways, that we all interact with AI," said Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company's annual product presentation event.
"It is just a lot better," he said.
The deployment comes months after OpenAI previewed its own ChatGPT voice feature, which drew controversy for its similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson's voice.
Meta has obtained permission from the stars featured in its new voice tool, which will be available on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
However, Meta AI won't be accessible in Europe due to concerns about compliance with EU data protection laws and potential fines.
Meta's AI relies on content and data from its platforms' legions of users, a practice that involves numerous obligations and safeguards in Europe.
- 400 million users -
Like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, Meta AI is an AI assistant that answers questions, creates images, writes messages and even provides companionship.
This new version builds on the initial release unveiled a year ago. Meta reports that over 400 million people already consult Meta AI at least once a month, and the company aims to make it "the most widely used AI assistant by the end of the year."
Critics, however, point out that many users stumble into MetaAI inadvertently, as it has replaced the search function on apps such as WhatsApp.
Since ChatGPT's breakthrough, the major tech companies have been rapidly developing AI applications capable of producing high-quality content from simple queries.
Competition is fierce, with Google and Microsoft having a head start in productivity features, and Apple entering the market with AI-capable iPhones.
However, these models require substantial technical infrastructure, energy, and skilled engineers, significantly impacting company resources.
Meta believes its enhanced assistant sounds more natural, can interact verbally, and analyze images. Like other chatbots, it can suggest recipes from food photos or edit images based on simple user requests.
Despite concerns about heavy spending on AI and virtual reality, Meta's profits have soared, with its share price up 60 percent since the beginning of the year. The company's success rides on strong advertising results.
But the social media giant's heavy spending on AI and virtual reality technology has always been a concern for investors and observers.
"When I think about AI, Meta is not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi told AFP.
"And their biggest hurdle is going to be privacy and trust: a lot of consumers will have issues with trusting that the data is not being used for other reasons."
T.Resende--PC