Meta AI announces rollout to additional countries with new languages
Meta AI, Facebook parent company's entry into the AI market, has been receiving major upgrades and updates, especially since Meta Connect 2024, and now it seems the company believes it is time for more of the world to experience it.
Recently, in a post, Meta announced that its AI will be available in six more countries—including Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay, the Philippines, and, interestingly, the United Kingdom—with plans to expand into up to 15 more in the coming weeks.
This rollout would increase the number of countries where Meta AI is available to up to 43 by the end of this period, up from 22 countries as of July. Although the company announced that the rollout for the first six countries has already begun, it did not provide specific dates for when Meta AI will be available in other countries.
As a quick comparison, Gemini is now available in 60 countries, while ChatGPT is accessible in over 190 countries. Microsoft's copilot is also available in 222 countries, highlighting the competitive landscape Meta is entering.
Additionally, Meta will introduce support for a new language, Tagalog, and plans to roll out support for other languages, including Arabic, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese, in the coming weeks.
Some users of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses will also receive an upgrade. The company announced that it will make Meta AI accessible to its glasses users in the United Kingdom and Australia. However, UK users will only receive voice support for now. Either way, it's another step toward using Meta AI hands-free.
Interestingly, apart from the UK, the other countries included in Meta's rollout plans are primarily located outside the EU. Some of the countries Meta mentioned for future rollouts are Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Yemen.
Engadget reports this was intentional, as Zuckerberg has been very open about avoiding the EU after a series of regulatory concerns and antitrust violations. This is also likely why the UK does not yet have multimodality in its glasses.
At least this marks an improvement compared to when Meta withdrew its AI from operation in the UK and did not release it.
So far, Meta's push into the AI market has been rapid, with its Llama models reportedly amassing over 300 million downloads. With its integration into glasses, Meta’s AI can be considered on par with the offerings from other major tech companies that have integrated AI into their devices, such as Gemini in Google products and Apple Intelligence in Apple devices.
It remains to be seen how much this AI submission from Meta will improve over time.