Meta Platforms has launched a standalone AI assistant app powered by its Llama model, as reported by CNBC, directly challenging OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other major platforms like Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok, and Anthropic’s Claude. The new app, simply named Meta AI, features a Discover feed that showcases how users are interacting with the assistant and offers suggestions and prompts to help users engage with the tool.

Meta’s standalone app debut follows a broader strategy shift that began in September 2023, when the company introduced an AI chatbot within its existing platforms. By April 2024, Meta had integrated the assistant directly into the search functions of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

The timing of the announcement coincides with Meta’s first-ever LlamaCon developer conference, hosted at its Menlo Park headquarters. The event centers around the company’s Llama family of AI models and aims to galvanize developer interest in Meta’s expanding AI ecosystem.

In January, the company revealed plans to allocate up to $65 billion in 2025 to enhance its AI infrastructure — a bold bet on the future of generative technologies and a clear signal to investors and competitors alike.

The app marks Meta’s most direct entry yet into the growing AI assistant market, as competition intensifies among tech giants.