Meta Expands Meta AI on Threads With Private DM Chats

Meta is expanding its AI assistant on Threads by rolling out Meta AI inside direct messages, giving users worldwide a private way to chat with the chatbot without posting publicly. The new feature lets people send Threads posts, images, links, and videos directly to Meta AI, ask follow-up questions, and continue conversations within one-on-one chats.

The company said the addition follows feedback from users who wanted more context from Meta AI without having to share those interactions publicly. According to Meta, "The DM experience gives people greater flexibility in how and where they interact with Meta AI. People can share Threads posts, images, links or videos directly with Meta AI, ask follow-up questions and explore a topic in more depth within a one-on-one conversation."

The private messaging integration brings Threads in line with Meta's other platforms, where Meta AI is already available inside Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp direct messages. By extending the feature to Threads, the company is making the AI assistant accessible across another part of its social ecosystem.

Meta is continuing to test Meta AI in Threads' public feed alongside the new DM rollout. The public experience, which launched earlier in a limited group of countries including Argentina, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, allows users to view Meta AI's posts and interact with the assistant by tagging @meta.ai.

Users who prefer not to engage with Meta AI in the public feed still cannot block the account entirely. However, Meta says they can mute @meta.ai, mark posts as "Not interested," or hide Meta AI replies that appear on their own posts.

The company said it is continuing to gather feedback from users before deciding whether to expand the public feed experience to additional markets. Meanwhile, the global rollout of Meta AI in Threads direct messages gives users a private alternative for interacting with the assistant while remaining inside the app.

This analysis is based on reporting from Engadget.

Image courtesy of Meta.

This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.