Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News
      The end of load shedding hasn't fixed South Africa's power problem

      The end of load shedding hasn’t fixed South Africa’s power problem

      15 April 2026
      Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

      Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

      15 April 2026
      Icasa's infrastructure database plan raises national security alarm

      Icasa’s infrastructure database plan raises national security alarm

      15 April 2026

      The cameras behind Artemis II’s stunning lunar images

      15 April 2026
      Uber in big pivot to autonomous robo-taxis

      Uber in big pivot to autonomous robo-taxis

      15 April 2026
    • World
      Google poised to lose ad crown to Meta

      Google poised to lose ad crown to Meta

      14 April 2026
      Grand Theft Data - hackers hit Rockstar Games - Grand Theft Auto

      Grand Theft Data – hackers hit Rockstar Games

      14 April 2026
      UK PM Keir Starmer declares war on doomscrolling

      UK PM Keir Starmer declares war on doomscrolling

      13 April 2026
      Big Tech is going nuclear

      Big Tech is going nuclear

      10 April 2026
      Software rout deepens as AI fears grip investors

      Software rout deepens as AI fears grip investors

      10 April 2026
    • In-depth
      Africa switches on as Europe dims the lights

      Africa switches on as Europe dims the lights

      9 April 2026
      The biggest untapped EV market on Earth is hiding in plain sight

      The biggest untapped EV market on Earth is hiding in plain sight

      1 April 2026
      The R18-billion tech giant hiding in plain sight - Jens Montanana

      The R16-billion tech giant hiding in plain sight

      26 March 2026
      The last generation of coders

      The last generation of coders

      18 February 2026
      Sentech is in dire straits

      Sentech is in dire straits

      10 February 2026
    • TCS
      TCS+ | Vodacom Business moves to crack the SME tech gap - Andrew Fulton, Sannesh Beharie

      TCS+ | Vodacom Business moves to crack the SME tech gap

      7 April 2026
      TCS | MTN's Divysh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi - Divyesh Joshi

      TCS | MTN’s Divyesh Joshi on the strategy behind Pi

      1 April 2026
      Anoosh Rooplal

      TCS | Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand

      27 March 2026
      Meet the CIO | HealthBridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health

      Meet the CIO | Healthbridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health

      23 March 2026
      TCS+ | Arctic Wolf unpacks the evolving threat landscape for SA businesses - Clare Loveridge and Jason Oehley

      TCS+ | Arctic Wolf unpacks the evolving threat landscape for SA businesses

      19 March 2026
    • Opinion
      The conflict of interest at the heart of PayShap's slow adoption - Cheslyn Jacobs

      The conflict of interest at the heart of PayShap’s slow adoption

      26 March 2026
      South Africa's energy future hinges on getting wheeling right - Aishah Gire

      South Africa’s energy future hinges on getting wheeling right

      10 March 2026
      Hold the doom: the case for a South African comeback - Duncan McLeod

      Apple just dropped a bomb on the Windows world

      5 March 2026
      R230-million in the bag for Endeavor's third Harvest Fund - Alison Collier

      VC’s centre of gravity is shifting – and South Africa is in the frame

      3 March 2026
      Hold the doom: the case for a South African comeback - Duncan McLeod

      Hold the doom: the case for a South African comeback

      26 February 2026
    • Company Hubs
      • 1Stream
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • Ascent Technology
      • AvertITD
      • BBD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • HOSTAFRICA
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • IQbusiness
      • Iris Network Systems
      • Kaspersky
      • LSD Open
      • Mitel
      • NEC XON
      • Netstar
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Telviva
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Vodacom Business
      • Wipro
      • Workday
      • XLink
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Financial services
      • HealthTech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Policy and regulation
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Satellite communications
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Sections » AI and machine learning » Meta launches standalone AI assistant

    Meta launches standalone AI assistant

    Facebook parent Meta Platforms has launched a separate app for its Meta AI assistant.
    By Agency Staff30 April 2025
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Meta launches standalone AI assistantFacebook parent Meta Platforms has launched a separate app for its Meta AI assistant, similar to those offered by Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

    The standalone app comes as Meta looks to boost the AI assistant’s usage, apart from being available within the company’s family of platforms — WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

    It also signals CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s move to strengthen the company’s position in the competitive AI landscape, taking on major rivals such as OpenAI and Google.

    The Instagram owner is set to report its first-quarter results on Wednesday after markets close

    Meta’s separate app will provide more personalised responses based on context and other user-specific elements related to the user’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

    Llama 4, Meta’s latest large language model, powers the Meta AI assistant and is designed to rival the latest AI models from OpenAI, Google, Deepseek and Anthropic, with improved reasoning, multilingual capabilities and efficiency.

    The new app will integrate with Meta’s AI glasses and merge with the existing companion app, the company said.

    Meta hosted its first-ever AI developer event, dubbed LlamaCon, on Tuesday, which centred on its Llama family of AI models.

    Reasoning

    The Instagram owner is set to report its first-quarter results on Wednesday after markets close.

    Meta will start testing a paid subscription for the AI chatbot’s advanced versions in the second quarter, Reuters reported in February. However, the subscription service might not rake in meaningful revenue until next year at the earliest, a source had said.

    Read: Zuckerberg eyed Instagram spinoff from Meta

    Meta AI, which was launched in September 2023, is a virtual assistant that uses large language models to perform reasoning tasks.  — Akash Sriram, (c) 2025 Reuters

    Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here.

    Don’t miss:

    Meta to build world’s longest subsea broadband cable – and South Africa is included

    Follow TechCentral on Google News Add TechCentral as your preferred source on Google


    WhatsApp YouTube
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleNaspers and Prosus appoint veteran insider as CFO
    Next Article MTN vs Turkcell: $4.2bn bribery lawsuit heads to SA’s top court

    Related Posts

    The end of load shedding hasn't fixed South Africa's power problem

    The end of load shedding hasn’t fixed South Africa’s power problem

    15 April 2026
    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC - Gaetan Soltesz, FAST Congo

    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC

    15 April 2026
    Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

    Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

    15 April 2026
    Company News
    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC - Gaetan Soltesz, FAST Congo

    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC

    15 April 2026
    Avast Business and Avert IT Distribution rewrite the SMB cybersecurity playbook

    Avast Business and Avert IT Distribution rewrite the SMB cybersecurity playbook

    15 April 2026
    The hidden risk in South Africa's payment infrastructure - AfriGIS

    The hidden risk in South Africa’s payment infrastructure

    14 April 2026
    Opinion
    The conflict of interest at the heart of PayShap's slow adoption - Cheslyn Jacobs

    The conflict of interest at the heart of PayShap’s slow adoption

    26 March 2026
    South Africa's energy future hinges on getting wheeling right - Aishah Gire

    South Africa’s energy future hinges on getting wheeling right

    10 March 2026
    Hold the doom: the case for a South African comeback - Duncan McLeod

    Apple just dropped a bomb on the Windows world

    5 March 2026

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Latest Posts
    The end of load shedding hasn't fixed South Africa's power problem

    The end of load shedding hasn’t fixed South Africa’s power problem

    15 April 2026
    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC - Gaetan Soltesz, FAST Congo

    New man to accelerate wholesale connectivity in the DRC

    15 April 2026
    Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

    Amazon ramps up satellite war with $11.6-billion Globalstar buy

    15 April 2026
    Icasa's infrastructure database plan raises national security alarm

    Icasa’s infrastructure database plan raises national security alarm

    15 April 2026
    © 2009 - 2026 NewsCentral Media
    • Cookie policy (ZA)
    • TechCentral – privacy and Popia

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Manage consent

    TechCentral uses cookies to enhance its offerings. Consenting to these technologies allows us to serve you better. Not consenting or withdrawing consent may adversely affect certain features and functions of the website.

    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    • Manage options
    • Manage services
    • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
    • Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    • {title}
    • {title}
    • {title}