Meta AI Now Available as a Desktop App for Mac

Meta on Thursday released a new standalone AI app for Mac as part of the social media giant’s renewed effort to promote its AI tools.The app is in beta and free to use for anyone with a Meta account.While billed as a “personal assistant that gets things done, Meta is pushing the app toward small business owners and media creators, highlighting several features potentially of interest to them.Among these is the ability for those with professional Facebook or Instagram accounts to connect Meta AI to Google Workspace and manage documents and spreadsheets.It also works in tandem with Meta Ads to deliver audits and optimize campaigns. Meta says business owners can ask the AI questions about their operation and get answers that are drawn from context Meta holds such as account engagement and ad performance. This enables benchmarking against similar brands.One unique feature for Mac is the ability to share an on-screen window with the assistant, so that the AI app has access to what a user is working on and, Meta said, can provide specific advice and insights.Related:OpenAI Scales Back AI Development, but it Could be Too LateThis is complemented by another Mac-only feature that enables users to use their voice to dictate in any app.Meta AI remains free to use, on Mac or elsewhere, but the company is testing usage limits on what it describes as its more compute-intensive features.When a daily or monthly limit is reached, users will be offered the opportunity to buy a subscription.The arrival of the Mac app is the latest in a series of measures intended to increase interest in Meta’s AI capabilities.In June, the vendor released Business Agent, designed to help companies by automating tasks such as handling customer inquiries, scheduling appointments and recommending products.Last month, Meta also rolled out out Muse Image, an AI tool to help small and medium-sized businesses create ad campaigns, although one of its key features was swiftly axed following some public negative feedback.This was followed earlier this month by the arrival of Muse Code, a coding agent Meta pitched as an alternative to OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code.About the AuthorContributing WriterGraham Hope has worked in automotive journalism in the U.K. for 26 years, including spells as editor of leading consumer news website and weekly Auto Express and respected buying guide CarBuyer.