However, given the many complaints users have generally had with their AI support system systems for business accounts and ad campaign setup, many are very skeptical of how this will in actual work.

The most immediate change for users is the Meta AI support assistant. Unlike previous iterations of “Help Centers” that relied on keyword searches and static articles, this new tool is designed to take direct action within the app. Meta claims the assistant can respond to most queries in under five seconds, a significant benchmark for a platform with billions of users.

Beyond answering questions about privacy settings or new features, the assistant is being granted permission to execute account-level changes. Users can now ask the AI to reset passwords, update profile settings, and manage notification toggles directly. Crucially, it also handles the “paperwork” of moderation, allowing users to report impersonation accounts and track the status of content appeals through a conversational interface rather than a series of nested menus.

On the back end, Meta is deploying more sophisticated AI models to handle content enforcement, moving away from a primary reliance on third-party human review teams. The company shared several data points from early testing that suggest these models are outperforming human moderators in specific, high-velocity areas:

• Scam Mitigation: The AI currently identifies approximately 5,000 scam attempts per day that were previously missed by human reviewers.
• Impersonation: Meta reports an 80% reduction in user reports regarding celebrity impersonation since the AI began flagging these accounts at the point of creation.
• Contextual Awareness: The system is now capable of identifying “account takeovers” by analyzing clusters of behavior—such as a password change combined with a new login location and profile edits—that might look harmless to a human reviewer when viewed in isolation.

One of the most significant technical leaps is in language support. While previous systems covered roughly 80 languages, the new AI models are trained to understand cultural nuances, slang, and regionally specific code words across languages spoken by 98% of the online population.

The company is also targeting “spoofing” more aggressively. In one test case, the AI was able to detect fake retail sites by identifying the use of legitimate logos paired with suspicious web addresses and “unusually low” pricing. This specific application reportedly drove down views of scam-related ads by 7%.

In this instance, Avatars are digital personas that enable people to engage across Facebook and Messenger in a more personal and dynamic way. You can use your personalised avatar to share a range of emotions and expressions via a digital persona that is unique to you.

There are many ways you can use your avatar including in comments, Stories, Messenger and soon, text posts with backgrounds too. Avatars will enable let you share your authentic reactions and feelings with family and friends across the app. You can customise your avatar with hairstyles, complexions, outfits, COVID-19 support stickers and more.

Creating one is quite simple, simply go to the Facebook or Messenger comment composer, click on the “smiley” button, and then the sticker tab. Click “Create Your Avatar”. 

“Facebook is home to some of your most personal content and we want to allow people to share and react to that content in the most personalised way possible,” says Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa. “We’re excited to give people more options to convey their identity on Facebook, allowing them to share in a more personal, light-hearted way.”

IGTV was first introduced mid 2018 as a dedicated app for sharing longer-form vertical videos. The app joined the existing Instagram platform, which used to feature a button that would directly launch the video app. The big appeal is that unlike the regular Instagram platform, IGTV doesn’t limit video lengths to one minute or less.

Though it has been on the market for nearly two years, IGTV has never proven as popular as alternatives like TikTok. That hasn’t stopped Instagram from sustaining the app, however, which was recently updated with a new home screen that highlights creators at the top. As well, the app’s new Discover tab helps users find new creators to watch.

The IGTV app update changelog reveals that IGTV also now supports hands-free video capturing, which means that users can tap the video icon located in the upper left corner to start recording. The videos can be directly edited and then uploaded to the IGTV app, eliminating the need to use the device’s native camera app.

Instagram told The Verge that the updated IGTV app presents each user with featured creators that are chosen based on which accounts the user follows and the content they’re most likely to enjoy based on their existing habits. As well, IGTV Stories now play a 15-second clip as a lure to get viewers to click on the video and keep watching.

The update is available on the App Store and Google Play Store now.

Show your team colours

The day before the tournament, fans may see an animated message at the top of their Facebook News Feed inviting them to share their fandom with a profile frame of their favourite team competing in the World Cup. Fans clicking on the message will be able to update their profile frame with the team frame of their choice. Profile frames are available for all 32 teams competing in the tournament.

Cheer together with animations in posts and comments

Fans will discover fun animations when they celebrate their favourite team using select phrases in News Feed. This feature will unlock new ways for friends to cheer together and celebrate the action on the pitch. For example, someone may see this feature if they type in “gooaal” to celebrate their favourite team scoring, or if they type in a select cheer from one of the 32 competing countries. These phrases can be activated by posting or commenting with the correct phrase or tapping on the phrase when highlighted.

Get Creative with Effects in Facebook Camera and Messenger

Throughout the tournament, fans can swipe right into the Camera on Facebook and Messenger to capture and share their team spirit using effects.

Facebook: Click on the effects wand to find augmented reality stickers of players such as Sergio Ramos. Drop them in the scene around you and start filming; for example, juggle alongside Sergio Ramos and share your moments to Stories or News Feed.

Facebook/Messenger: Via the camera on both Facebook and Messenger, add AR effects to show off your fandom. You can snap a photo with face paint or a festive flag wig to show off your fandom and celebrate the 32 competing teams.

Play a game with friends on Messenger 

Just in time for the tournament, a new twist on the keepie uppie game arrives in Messenger. Play the hidden keepie uppie game in Messenger by sending a flag of your choice and a football/soccer ball to your friends in a chat. Show your country pride and compete with friends across the globe. To win, don’t drop that ball!

These product experiences began rolling out globally from yesterday, be sure to check them out. Happy watching and interacting!

The company’s Connectivity Lab has reached a major milestone in this ambition with the first full-scale test flight of Aquila, an unmanned solar-powered airplane that can be used to bring affordable internet to hundreds of millions of people in the hardest-to-reach places. This is great news, especially for many rural areas not only locally but also throughout the rest of Africa and the likes of countries who are short of the right infrastructure.

Internet access can offer life-changing opportunities, information, and experiences, but 1.6 billion people today live in remote locations with no access to mobile broadband networks. Facebook is building new technologies like Aquila to help address this challenge.

When complete, Aquila will be able to circle a region up to 97km in diameter, beaming connectivity down from an altitude of more than 18 000 meters using laser communications and millimeter wave systems. Aquila is designed to fly for up to three months at a time.

Facebook’s mission is to connect the world and with their growing team of aerospace, optical physics, RF communications and other world experts, and existing relationships with the technology community, telcos, governments, and communities that use Facebook, the company is uniquely positioned to do this work. I for one had no one idea about this.

I’m sure you can agree that this is a great project from the company and we certainly look forward to seeing how the rest of it turns goes. 

WhatsApp is a voice and text instant messaging platform with apps for most every smartphone OS. It provides free service for the first year and costs a dollar annually after that. Why then, did Facebook just buy WhatsApp — aside from the obvious cachet, keeping it away from Google and free advertising that comes with its omnipresence in Katy Perry’s Roar video — for $19 billion (with a ‘b’), when it already has Facebook Messenger?

In a word: users. 450 million of them to be precise, and 315 million of those are active on a given day. In fact, WhatsApp’s users are so prolific, its messaging volume is roughly equal to that of the entire world’s SMS traffic. And, WhatsApp is huge overseas and in emerging markets. According to a report from mobile marketing and research firm Jana, the app is far and away the most used messaging service in India, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa. The Information, which got a more in depth look at Jana’s research, shows that Facebook Messenger usage is far, far lower in those same countries.

Now, is that massive international user base worth $19 billion? It’s hard for us to understand how it possibly could be. WhatsApp’s founders have pledged to keep the app ad- and gimmick-free, so there aren’t any indications that new revenue streams are coming. And, while the acquisition fits in perfectly with Facebook’s plan to expand its app offerings, the social network has promised to use the same hands-off approach it did with Instagram — leveraging its “expertise, resources and scale” to grow the platform, while keeping WhatsApp operationally independent.

Additional Reporting from Engadget