Meta Accelerates Voice AI Development with Llama 4, Exploring Premium Features and Monetization

Meta accelerates voice-powered AI push

Mark Zuckerberg is building up the voice capabilities of Meta's artificial intelligence this year, as the social media giant pushes forward with plans to generate revenues from the fast-developing technology. Meta is planning to introduce improved voice features into its latest open source large language model, Llama 4, expected in the coming weeks, said people familiar with the matter, as it bets that future so-called AI-powered agents will be conversational rather than text-led. The company has been particularly focused on making the conversation between a user and its voice model closer to a two-way natural dialogue, allowing for interruptions from the user rather than a more rigid question and answer format, one person said. The voice push comes as Zuckerberg, chief executive, has outlined bold plans to make the $1.7tn Silicon Valley company the "AI leader", calling 2025 a make-or-break year for many of its AI products, as the group races against rivals such as OpenAI, Microsoft and Google to commercialise the technology. This has led the company to look at trialling premium subscriptions for its AI assistant Meta AI, for agentic tasks such as booking reservations and video creation, said two people familiar with the matter. It is also considering introducing paid advertising or sponsored posts into the search results of its AI assistant, one of the people said. Zuckerberg this year revealed plans to build an AI engineering agent that has the coding and problem-solving abilities of a mid-level engineer, which he said has a potentially "very large market". Meta declined to comment. The group's chief product officer Chris Cox on Wednesday highlighted some of its plans for Llama 4, saying it would be an "omni model" whereby speech would "be native . . . rather than translating voice into text, sending text to the LLM, getting text out, and turning that back into speech". Speaking at the Morgan Stanley technology, media & telecom conference, he added: "I believe it's a huge deal for the interface product, the idea that you can talk to the internet and just ask it anything. I think we are still wrapping our heads around how powerful that is." Meta has also been discussing the guardrails that the newest Llama model should have around what it can output and whether to lower them, two people familiar with the matter said. The discussions come amid a flurry of launches from rivals and warnings from newly appointed 'AI tsar' David Sacks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, who has said he wants to ensure US AI models are not politically biased or "woke". OpenAI released its voice mode last year and has focused on giving it distinct personalities, while Grok 3, created by Elon Musk's xAI and available on the X platform, rolled out its voice features to select users late last month. The Grok model was specifically designed to have fewer guardrails, including an "unhinged mode" that deliberately responds in ways intended to be "objectionable, inappropriate, and offensive", according to the company. Meta last year unveiled a less "sanctimonious" version of its AI model for its third Llama iteration, following criticism that Llama 2 was refusing to answer innocent questions. Allowing users to interact with an AI assistant using voice commands is a major feature of Meta's Ray Bans smart glasses, which have recently become a big hit among consumers. The group has accelerated its plans to build lightweight headsets that can usurp the smartphone as consumers' main computing device.

Meta planning to introduce improved voice features in Llama AI- FT By Investing.com

Investing.com-- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is planning to introduce improved voice features in the latest version of its Llama artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported on Friday, as the social media giant looks to further its offerings of the technology. The company will introduce improved voice features in its latest large language model, Llama 4, over the coming weeks, the FT report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The push into voice features also reflects Meta's bet that the future of AI-powered agents will be conversational, rather than text-based. Meta is also looking at trialling premium subscriptions for its AI assistant, Meta AI, for agentic purposes, the FT report said. Meta has invested heavily in improving its AI features and capabilities over the past two years, having recently unveiled plans to build an AI coding agent that has the capabilities of a mid-level engineer. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company's fourth quarter earnings that it will spend up to $65 billion in 2025 to bolster its AI offerings, although a bulk of this spend will be dedicated to data center infrastructure. But the company is grappling with a host of competitors in the AI industry, from its fellow American internet giants, as well as new offerings from Chinese companies over the past month.

Meta Llama 4 will let you talk to AI like never before

Meta Platforms Inc is set to enhance its voice capabilities with the upcoming version of its artificial intelligence, Llama 4, as reported by the Financial Times. This development aligns with Meta's strategy to focus on conversational AI agents instead of traditional text-based interactions. The introduction of improved voice features in Llama 4 is expected in the coming weeks, aiming to facilitate a two-way natural dialogue where users can interrupt the AI rather than strictly adhering to a question-and-answer format. This shift demonstrates Meta's commitment to transforming user interaction with AI technology. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has outlined ambitious goals for the company, designating 2025 as a pivotal year for its range of AI products, which are under development amid increased competition from companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. To undergird these initiatives, Meta plans to invest up to $65 billion in 2025, primarily focusing this expenditure on data center infrastructure. Meta AI approaches 600 million monthly users with Llama 3.3 Alongside advancements in Llama 4, Meta is exploring the possibility of premium subscriptions for its AI assistant, Meta AI, which would enable it to perform tasks such as booking reservations and video creation. The company is also considering implementing paid advertising or sponsored posts in the search results of Meta AI. The chief product officer Chris Cox indicated that Llama 4 would operate as an "omni model," allowing speech to function natively within the system, thereby eliminating the need to translate voice into text and back. He emphasized the significance of this capability at the Morgan Stanley technology, media & telecom conference, stating, "I think we are still wrapping our heads around how powerful that is." Meta has been actively discussing the necessary guardrails for the latest Llama model's output while evaluating whether to lessen these restrictions. These discussions come amidst competitive pressures as rivals like OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI also make strides in deploying voice features, including OpenAI's distinct personality offerings and Grok 3, which features an "unhinged mode" that responds in deliberately objectionable ways. Last year, Meta addressed criticism regarding its Llama 2 model, which had been reluctant to answer benign queries by unveiling a more flexible version in Llama 3. The integration of voice commands is also a key feature of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which have gained popularity among consumers, further indicating the company's strategy to position lightweight headsets as the primary computing devices of the future.

Meta Expands Voice-Powered AI with Llama 4 | PYMNTS.com

Meta Platforms Inc, the social media giant behind Facebook, is ramping up its efforts in the voice-powered AI space. According to the Financial Times, Meta is planning to introduce improved voice features in its latest version of Llama AI, called Llama 4. The company believes that the future of AI-powered agents will be conversational, rather than text-based. Meta has been investing heavily in AI over the past two years, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing plans to spend up to $65 billion in 2025 to bolster its AI offerings. The company is looking to expand its AI capabilities beyond social media platforms and is considering trialing premium subscriptions for its AI assistant, Meta AI, for agentic purposes such as booking reservations and video creation. Meta's push into voice-powered AI comes as it competes with other tech giants in the industry, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. These companies are all racing to commercialize AI technology and generate revenue from it. Meta is also exploring the possibility of introducing paid advertising or sponsored posts into the search results of its AI assistant. The voice capabilities of Meta's AI have been a focus for the company, with plans to make the conversation between the user and the AI model more natural and two-way. Meta wants users to be able to interrupt the AI model and have a more fluid dialogue, rather than a rigid question and answer format. Meta's chief product officer, Chris Cox, described the upcoming Llama 4 as an "omni model" that allows for native speech rather than translating voice into text. He believes that the ability to talk to the internet and ask it anything is a powerful feature that is still being fully realized. Meta has also been discussing the guardrails for its AI models, including the newest Llama model. The company is considering whether to lower the restrictions on what the AI model can output. Meta's push into voice-powered AI aligns with its broader strategy of building lightweight headsets, such as its Ray Bans smart glasses, that can replace smartphones as consumers' main computing devices. The company sees voice interaction as a major feature of these devices. As PYMNTS reported recently, Clara Shih, Meta's head of business AI, hopes to offer agentic AI to "hundreds of millions" of businesses. "We're quickly coming to a place where every business, from the very large to the very small, they're going to have a business agent representing it and acting on its behalf, in its voice -- the way that businesses today have websites and email addresses." Shih wants to become more accessible for small businesses that currently rely on a Facebook page or website as their primary way to attract and engage with customers. "Very soon, each of those businesses are going to have these AIs that can represent them and help automate redundant tasks, help speak in their voice, help them find more customers and provide almost like a concierge service to every single one of their customers, 24/7."

Meta AI Assistant May Get Paid Subscriptions, Ads; Llama 4 Upgrade In The Works - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Mark Zuckerberg wants to build up the voice capabilities of Meta Platforms Inc's META artificial intelligence this year. Meta plans to introduce improved voice features into its latest open-source large language model, Llama 4, The Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The Facebook and Instagram parent remained engaged in making the conversation between a user and its voice model closer to a two-way natural dialogue, the sources told. Also Read: Intel Panther Lake Delay Pushes Key Notebook Launch To 2026 Zuckerberg outlined plans to make the company the "AI leader," calling 2025 significant. This has led the company to trial premium subscriptions for its AI assistant, Meta AI, for agentic tasks such as booking reservations. It also considers introducing paid advertising or sponsored posts into AI assistant search results, the sources added. In 2024, Zuckerberg shared plans to build an AI engineering agent with coding and problem-solving abilities. Meta's investment in virtual and augmented reality will likely top $100 billion in 2025, coinciding with Zuckerberg hailing 2025 as significant for its smart glasses. Reportedly, Meta's investment in VR and AR product development and acquisitions has topped $80 billion since it launched the initiative in 2014. Wall Street firms, including Rosenblatt, Scotiabank and Truist Securities, raised price targets on Meta stock after its fourth-quarter report, citing AI and ad growth potential. They highlighted Meta's AI investments, Llama upgrades and ad tech as key drivers for long-term revenue growth. META Price Action: Meta Platforms stock is up 0.17% at $629 premarket at publication Friday. Also Read: Amazon To Launch AI Reasoning Model In June, ReinforcinAWS's's AI Dominance Photo: Shutterstock METAMeta Platforms Inc$629.620.27%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum88.67Growth72.53Quality-Value27.66Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Meta's next Llama models may have upgraded voice features | TechCrunch

Meta's next major "open" AI model may have a voice focus, per a report in Financial Times. According to the piece, Meta is planning to introduce improved voice features with Llama 4, the next flagship in its Llama model family, which is expected to arrive in "weeks." Reportedly, Meta has been particularly focused on allowing users to interrupt the model mid-speech, similar to OpenAI's Voice Mode for ChatGPT and Google's Gemini Live experience. In comments this week at a Morgan Stanley conference, Meta chief product officer Chris Cox said that Llama 4 will be an "omni" model, capable of natively interpreting and outputting speech as well as text and other types of data. The success of open models from the Chinese AI lab DeepSeek, which perform on par or better than Meta's Llama models, has kicked Llama development into overdrive. Meta is said to have scrambled to set up war rooms to decipher how DeepSeek lowered the cost of running and deploying models.