Meta Introduces New Artificial Intelligence Products: Facing Privacy and Legal Obstacles

Meta, the umbrella company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which has spent billions of dollars to avoid falling behind in the artificial intelligence race, is facing privacy debates and legal obstacles as it prepares to introduce its new products.

The company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, will address developers at the technology giant's annual Connect conference, which will start at 16:00 local time (02:00 GMT) today at its headquarters in Menlo Park.

Earlier this month, the social media giant launched Muse, its first actionable consumer application that can take action on behalf of users and functions as a digital personal assistant.

Users who connect their personal accounts such as finance, health or shopping to this system; They can delegate tasks such as registering for services, making an appointment or making a call to Meta.

Muse, which works with Meta's own artificial intelligence models and was designed as a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude model, has encountered mixed reactions in the business world.

This week, Amazon prevented artificial intelligence bots from making automatic purchases on behalf of users.

Other companies such as Instacart, Shopify and Expedia have signed collaboration agreements to integrate their services into the Muse system.

Combining its artificial intelligence strategy with smart glasses, Meta launched its first interactive model in 2021, about a year before OpenAI launched the global artificial intelligence wave with ChatGPT.

In addition to its partnership with eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, which produces many Ray-Ban branded Meta glasses, the company introduced its augmented reality screen glasses that project images onto its lenses last year, and its own brand artificial intelligence glasses earlier this year.

However, the sense of novelty created by these devices was soon overshadowed by privacy concerns; Some people described the products as "voyeur glasses".

Speaking to various media outlets, including AFP, at last year's Connect event, Meta Product Manager Chris Cox downplayed these concerns and argued that "social norms" would form around the use of smart glasses over time.

Following the reactions regarding the devices, Meta explained that the light indicating recording is always visible to people around, and that if this light is interfered with, the camera will automatically be disabled.

News is also reflected in the press that the company is not only working on a new audio-focused glasses, but also developing a new generation mixed reality glasses.

In addition to product safety, Meta is also under intense pressure regarding the safety and privacy of children around the world.

The company reached a settlement with dozens of U.S. state attorneys general in August in a lawsuit accusing it of violating state and federal laws regarding consumer rights and children's online privacy.

As part of the agreement reached, Meta agreed to pay a fine of up to $18 billion and impose new restrictions on young users.

The technology giant, which faces social media bans and restrictions on underage users in different countries of the world, is also struggling with thousands of possible personal injury lawsuits in state courts in the USA.