Meta is rolling out its AI assistant across Europe, integrating it into existing apps but with several key restrictions.
The company announced the launch will cover 41 European states and 21 overseas territories, offering support in six European languages. Users can access the assistant through Meta's major platforms - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger - via a blue circle icon. According to Meta, the AI assistant already serves 700 million monthly users globally.
For WhatsApp group chats, users can summon the assistant using the "@MetaAI" command. Meta plans to extend this functionality to Messenger and Instagram Direct Messages in the future.
The system helps users find specific content like Reels or posts from contacts, drawing on both platform data and internet sources for responses.
European version launches without core capabilities
While Meta AI debuted in the US during fall 2023, its European rollout faced delays after Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) requested Meta postpone training its large language models on public Facebook and Instagram content from EU users.
Meta maintained that training with European data was essential for properly representing regional terminology and culture. This situation mirrors Apple's decision to withhold its Intelligence features in the EU due to regulatory concerns.
The current solution comes with significant limitations. Meta confirms the model wasn't trained on EU user data, and only includes text capabilities. The company isn't offering its multimodal Llama model in the EU, citing the European regulatory landscape.
As a result, EU users can't access features like image generation, editing, or image-based queries. Meta says it aims to eventually bring these capabilities to the EU through cooperation with regulators - particularly important for Meta's Ray Ban Smartglasses, which also lack these crucial multimodal features in the EU market.
