Meta is reportedly building an advanced, highly personalized artificial intelligence assistant designed to carry out everyday tasks for its billions of users. This initiative comes as the company faces increasing investor scrutiny over its substantial AI spending.
The social media giant is developing these "agentic tools," including a sophisticated digital assistant, which will be powered by its new Muse Spark AI model. Internal testing of this assistant is currently underway with a group of staff members.
The goal of Meta's new AI assistant is to create a product akin to OpenClaw, an open-source project supported by OpenAI. OpenClaw is known for its ability to connect various hardware and software tools and learn from data with significantly less human intervention than traditional chatbots. Additionally, Meta is training an internal AI agent codenamed "Hatch," inspired by OpenClaw, with internal testing expected to conclude by the end of June. Meta also plans to integrate a separate agentic shopping tool into Instagram, targeting a launch before the fourth quarter of this year.
Meta recently increased its annual capital spending forecast, indicating plans to invest billions more into AI infrastructure. This increased spending is occurring even as the company navigates potential financial setbacks due to a global youth backlash against social media platforms. The company aims to allow users to share highly sensitive information, such as health and financial data, with these assistants if they choose, though some express skepticism about user willingness.
