WhatsApp (stable) for Windows 11 has turned on full-fledged “Meta AI” support for more people in a new server-side update rolling out via the Microsoft Store. This means you can now use Meta AI’s features, such as the ability to interact with LLAMA using texts and generate images.
Windows Latest previously reported that WhatsApp’s May 2024 update introduced a new navigation menu, which many people found unwanted. At that time, multiple sources told us the menu was added to integrate Meta AI. This month’s WhatsApp update confirms our earlier report. After the update, Meta AI appears in the new navigation menu.
As shown in the above screenshot, a new Meta AI button appears below the Chat, Calls and Status tabs. If you click the AI button, it opens “Meta AI” as a chat in WhatsApp, similar to how the button works on your Android phone. From there, you can ask Meta anything you want.
The above pop-up appears for the first time when you click the Meta AI button. It explains that Meta AI in WhatsApp for Windows 11 can be used to “express yourself”, so you can generate unique images to share with anyone. It can also recommend information and help you learn skills and browse the web using Bing (and sometimes Google).
Third and most important, WhatsApp says it won’t train the AI on your personal messages sent on Windows 11. However, Meta may use your conversation with the AI to train its models. AI interactions won’t be end-to-end encrypted, and you’ll need to accept these terms before using the AI.
I really like how WhatsApp has integrated Meta AI into its Windows app. It’s completely native and does not use web components or Edge WebView.
Meta/Facebook uses WinUI and UWP, which is why the app feels smooth and native on Windows compared to web apps built by Microsoft.
As you can see in the above GIF demo, Meta AI works well, and it can quickly generate images, but the images have a watermark when you try to view them in full-screen or save them locally.
WhatsApp also shows a loading animation when the AI responds to your prompt.
However, it’s worth noting that WhatsApp’s AI integration on Windows 11 is still not on par with the Android version, which is faster and lets you interact with AI answers using thumbs-down or thumbs-up reactions.
On the other hand, Microsoft’s Copilot app for Windows 11 is a web wrapper.
Copilot is no longer a native app or deeply integrated into Windows. A recent update downgraded it into an Edge-based web wrapper. The new Copilot “app” basically opens copilot.microsoft.com.
Perhaps Microsoft can learn a few things from Meta.
