By Peter Hoskins, BBC News, Business reporter
Instagram owner Meta says Dame Judi Dench and John Cena will be voice options for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Users will also be able to get information from AI versions of Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key or Kristen Bell.
Meta will be hoping this use of celebrity chatbots goes better than its last attempt. In September 2023, it debuted what it called AI chatbots with “personality”, based on celebrities such as Kendall Jenner and Snoop Dogg, only to pull the plug less than a year later.
The technology giant’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, announced its new foray into celebrity chatbots during the company’s annual Connect conference.
“I think that voice is going to be a way more natural way of interacting with AI than text,” he told attendees.
Other new offerings for the ChatGPT-like chatbot include it being able to recognise things users photograph, and give them information about them.
An image editing feature will allow users to alter photos by telling the Meta AI what changes they want.
The firm said that more than 400 million people were now using Meta AI a month, with 185 million of them returning to it every week.
Mr Zuckerberg also unveiled the first working prototype of Meta’s augmented-reality (AR) glasses, called Orion.
Showing off the Orion glasses, Mr Zuckerberg said: “A lot of people have said this is the craziest technology they’ve ever seen.”
Users will be able to interact with Orion through hand-tracking, voice and wrist-based interface.
Meta also announced an entry-level version of its Quest line of mixed-reality headsets, with prices for the new Quest 3S starting at $300 (£225).
Some of the world’s biggest technology firms have been developing AR glasses but have not yet launched commercially successful mass market devices.
In recent years, Meta has pumped billions of dollars into developing AI, AR and other metaverse technologies.
The company expects to spend as much as $40bn on new projects this year, a record high.
Before the event, Meta’s shares ended Wednesday’s trading day at a record high of $568.31.
The company – which also owns social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp – has seen its stock market value rise by more than 60% since the start of this year.
However, ahead of Meta’s annual showcase, thousands of Facebook and Instagram users, including many celebrities, shared a Stories post that falsely claimed people had to repost it if they did not want the firm to use their content to train its AI tools.
James McAvoy and Tom Brady were among those who fell for the hoax.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed users can only object to having their content used by submitting an objection form.
This can be accessed by clicking on a notification sent to users about the plans, or by going to the privacy centre under account settings.
