Meta Expands AI Assistant to Middle East and North Africa with Arabic Support

Meta AI adds Arabic support for Middle East and North Africa

Riding the wave of regional-specific LLMs, Meta AI is now available 42 countries and 13 languages. As large language models face growing criticism for their lack of language inclusivity beyond the English-dominated West, leading AI companies have started tailoring regional-specific LLMs to break this cycle. Now, Meta is riding that wave. Meta is expanding Meta AI across the Middle East and North Africa (aka, MENA) as it provides language support for millions of Arabic-speaking users in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Meta AI, an AI-powered chatbot and virtual assistant based on Llama 3.2, is available on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Designed to emphasize user-friendliness, the AI requires no downloads or sign-ups; "It's simply there, ready to assist, whenever you see its signature blue circle icon," according to Meta's blog post released Monday. In October, Mark Zuckerburg announced on WhatsApp the release of Meta AI to the UK, the Philippines, and countries in Latin America. The announcement also teased plans to gradually roll out the virtual assistant to the Middle East and parts of Asia as part of a multilingual project to expand access. Also: The best AI chatbots of 2025: ChatGPT, Copilot, and notable alternatives According to the blog post, "one of the standout features [of the virtual assistant] is the ability to enhance group conversations [with] tailored recommendations in real-time, sparking discussion and helping you finalize plans without ever leaving the app." To enable this feature, users must tag @Meta AI in their chat, and various options will appear. However, availability varies depending on region. Meta also plans to roll out advanced multimodal features "that enable greater creativity and connection" to the MENA region. This will include generative AI tools such as "Imagine Me," which creates stylistic and personalized selfies of users, and audio dubbing for Instagram Reels. Also: Grok 3 AI is now free to all X users - here's how it works According to Meta, Meta AI is now available in 42 countries and 13 languages, including MENA users, bringing the total number of active monthly users to nearly 700 million.

Meta AI arrives in the Middle East and Africa with support for Arabic | TechCrunch

Meta has formally expanded Meta AI to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), opening the AI-enabled chatbot to millions more people. Back in October, Meta announced it was launching Meta AI in six additional markets, including Brazil and the U.K. At the same time, the company teased gradual rollout plans for additional markets around the world, including MENA. Moving forward, Meta AI will be available in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. In tandem, Meta is also expanding language support to include Arabic. Users can summon a virtual assistant by tagging @meta in a chat on apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger -- although availability varies by region -- to recommend places to visit nearby, or songs to include in a playlist for a roadtrip. Meta says it plans to go multimodal in terms of the available AI features in the MENA region, and will include tools such as "Imagine Me," which creates stylistic selfies of users, and audio dubbing for Instagram Reels. With this announcement, Meta says that Meta AI is now available in 42 countries across 13 languages, with some 700 million users already across its various apps including WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook itself. However, the exact feature set that's available in each market does vary -- for instance, Meta AI is limited in some European countries to general questions only on its Ray-Ban Meta AR glasses, due to data privacy regulations.

Meta rolls out its AI chatbot to nearly a dozen Middle Eastern nations

Millions of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger users throughout the Middle East now enjoy access to Meta's self-named AI chatbot platform, the company announced on Monday. The chatbot is rolling out to users in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. "AI just got even more accessible than ever before, as we officially launched Meta AI in the Middle East and North Africa with Arabic capabilities," Meta wrote in its announcement blog post. At launch, these users will have access to only some of Meta AI's generative capabilities -- specifically, text and image generation, as well as image animation. The company plans to expand those offerings to include simultaneous dubbing for Reels, AI image editing, and the "Imagine Me" feature (which generates a user's portrait based on uploaded reference photos) in the near future. Recommended Videos Though its AI is not agentic like OpenAI's Operator system, Meta envisions it serving as a personal assistant in addition to word and image generator. It would, for example, enable users to plan trips through group chat with the chatbot offering destination suggestions and assisting with brainstorming activity ideas. "You will be able to upload an image of the view from your apartment and ask Meta AI to reimagine a whole new world out there," the company wrote. "Want to envision yourself with a new hair color or style? Meta AI will be your makeover assistant." Meta isn't the only company looking to expand its influence in the Middle East and North Africa. Last week, French AI startup Mistral announced its new Saba model, designed specifically to interact with users speaking Arabic. While the region has not seen the same explosive growth of generative AI that the US and China have recently, the Middle East is expected to benefit greatly from the technology in the coming years. A recent study from PWC anticipates the Middle East will "accrue 2% of the total global benefits of AI in 2030. This is equivalent to US$320 billion."

Meta continues to build AI empire as it expands into Middle East (META:NASDAQ)

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) continues to grow its artificial intelligence offerings globally, as the social media giant launched Meta AI today across the Middle East. Users in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen can now access Meta AI in Arabic, across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp