Meta is making its chatbot more like an assistant

Meta is upgrading its AI-powered chatbot with new productivity features in a bid to compete with competitors like Gemini, ChatGPT, and Cloud. the The update will allow Meta AI Leverage your calendar to help you plan events and create daily summaries, as well as conduct in-depth research that you can guide as it progresses.

This represents a reversal of the company’s previous strategy, with Meta CPO Chris Cox telling employees last year that the goal was to “focus on entertainment” and “connecting with friends,” rather than “obsessively focused on productivity” like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. As reported by Alex Heath.

Now, Meta says its chatbot can create daily summaries of your day based on your calendar, or browse Facebook Marketplace for used furniture that fits your kitchen renovation budget. It can also search for restaurants for an event you’re planning and check your calendar to choose a day that fits your schedule. Additionally, Meta says, “You only have to set up tasks with Meta AI once, and then you can leave Meta AI to handle them,” allowing it to provide you with calendar briefs without re-prompting, create meal plans on a weekly basis, or provide updates about product restocks.

The company says its AI assistant is also better at summarizing information from around the web and putting it into a report, presentation, or plan. You can now adjust the direction of the Meta AI in the middle of its response as well, similar to what you can do with ChatGPT.

Meta’s updated AI Assistant is rolling out today in “select markets” in the Meta AI app and on the web. It will become available to users in more countries and on other platforms, such as WhatsApp, “in the coming weeks.”