Sam Altman reacts to Meta AI app, says will launch a social app too

OpenAI’s chief, Sam Altman, reacted to reports that Meta is launching an AI app to compete with ChatGPT. Posting on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), he said, “ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app” and added, “lol if Facebook tries to come at us and we just uno reverse them it would be so funny.”


Meta plans to test a paid version of its AI chatbot, Meta AI, similar to OpenAI and Microsoft’s premium offerings, Reuters has reported. The Facebook parent will release the separate app in the second quarter, said CNBC.


Launched in September 2023, Meta AI answers questions and creates images. In April, Meta made it a key feature by replacing the search bar in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger with Meta AI.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to strengthen the company’s AI offerings against OpenAI and Google. He has committed up to $65 billion this year for AI infrastructure. Meta is also working on AI-powered humanoid robots under Reality Labs.

Big technology firms have been investing tens of billions of dollars to develop AI infrastructure after the success of ChatGPT.

In January, Microsoft said it was planning to invest about $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to develop data centres, while Amazon.com has said its 2025 spending would be higher than the estimated $75 billion in 2024.

To stay competitive, OpenAI introduced GPT-4.5 in a research preview for ChatGPT Pro users and developers worldwide.

According to the company, GPT-4.5 offers improved pattern recognition, enhanced creative generation without reasoning, and greater emotional intelligence.

Other updates

Meta-owned Instagram is preparing to launch a standalone app for its short-form video feature, Reels, chief Adam Mosseri told staff.

The move comes as Meta seeks to capitalise on TikTok’s uncertain future in the US. In 2018, the company experimented with a similar standalone app, Lasso, to rival TikTok, but it failed to gain traction and was eventually shut down.