Mark Zuckerberg is creating a team to keep up with ChatGPT
The chatbot battle is heating up, and Mark Zuckerberg makes it clear that Meta Platforms is also focusing on artificial intelligence tools.
“We are creating a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI to advance our work in this space,” said Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive officer, in a post on Instagram Monday. “We still have a lot of groundwork to do before we get to the truly futuristic experiences, but I’m excited for all the new things we’ll build along the way.”
The company is currently trying to use the technology with text-like chats in Meta’s messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as visual filters for photos and videos on platforms like Instagram. “We will focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways,” he added.
Earlier Monday, social networking rival Snap Inc. announced that it was releasing an AI-enabled chatbot based on OpenAI’s GPT technology for its subscriber members on the Snapchat app. Snap’s news was the latest entry in the race for digital tools that can answer users’ questions in natural language, after similar trials were launched by internet heavyweights like Microsoft Corp. and Google were published by Alphabet Inc.
The newly formed meta product group will include dozens of employees from teams previously spread across the company. The group will be led by Ahmad Al-Dahle, a machine learning and artificial intelligence executive at Meta, according to a spokesman. Al-Dahle will report directly to Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, a sign of the social media giant’s intent to further integrate this type of technology into Meta’s product lineup.
Zuckerberg’s latest post echoes comments he made on Meta’s earnings call earlier this month – that the company is focused on infusing AI into its messaging, advertising business and its algorithm that decides what content people get on Facebook and Instagram see. “We are focused on efficiency and continue to optimize the business as we can execute on those priorities,” he said at the time, just months after laying off 13% of Meta’s workforce.
And last week, the CEO unveiled a large language model called LLaMA, a research tool for building AI-based chatbots and other products. The company plans to make the technology available to AI researchers, a decision that will allow outsiders to see more clearly how the system works, customize it to their needs, and collaborate on related projects.
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