Meta plans to release a stand-alone AI app to compete with ChatGPT, as Sam Altman responds to the threat

Sam Altman at Apple Developer Conference

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Meta will release a new stand-alone Meta AI app in Q2 this year
Sam Altman has responded by suggesting OpenAI could release its own social media app in retaliation
Meta will release more AI-related products this year

According to new rumors posted by CNBC, Meta has announced that it is going to release a stand-alone app version of Meta AI to take on ChatGPT this year, prompting OpenAI CEO Sam Alman to respond with, “Ok fine maybe we'll do a social app”, on the X social platform.

The prospect of OpenAI creating a social media app in retaliation may have been a joke from Altman – his follow-up post on X said “lol if facebook tries to come at us and we just uno reverse them it would be so funny” followed by a laughing emoji, but it garnered some serious responses from users on X.

“Drop the GPT – just ‘chat’” said @not_a_vc, and “Have you thought about merging with X?” asked Bojan Tunguz. However, most users seemed to think the world didn’t need yet another social media app. “A social chatGPT app would probably start a new paradigm. No telling how the consequences would play out from that”, said RexMonte, “Social networks are now obsolete”, said Mark Lindsay, and “How many social media apps have been tried yet everyone keeps coming back to this dumpster fire?” asked another user.

Meta AI everywhere

According to CNBC, “people familiar with the matter” say the new Meta AI app is expected in the second quarter of this year.

The Meta AI chatbot launched in September 2023, and can currently be accessed from its own website, or from inside Meta apps like Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, where you can chat with the AI as if you were talking to a friend. Separating the AI out into a stand-alone app would pitch it directly against dedicated AI chatbot apps like ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok.

Zuckerberg Meta AI — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

In January this year, Zuckerberg responded to a post on Threads (another of Meta's social platforms) with a '100' emoji after a user suggested that Meta should have its own AI chatbot app, which could tie together MetaAI through all its different platforms, apps, and products like Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Meta has strong AI ambitions this year. Zuckerberg has described 2025 as being the “defining year” for Meta’s smart glasses plans and a leaked internal memo allegedly penned by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has teased some big things in XR and AI tech from its Reality Labs division, including six new AI hardware devices.